


Deception

by BlueLia



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Kidnapping, M/M, Other relationships minor, Poisoning, Smut, journalist!Wooyoung, model!yeosang, not woosang tho just in the past, only a little, theres not that much angst, woosang - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:47:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29001705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueLia/pseuds/BlueLia
Summary: Wooyoung moves outYeosang moves inWooyoung wants his house backYeosang lets him share on one conditionFake dating au!ON HOLD FOR NOW
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Song Mingi, Choi San/Jeong Yunho, Jung Wooyoung & Kang Yeosang, Jung Wooyoung/Kang Yeosang, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 5
Kudos: 50





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is kind of a mess but I hope you enjoy nonetheless
> 
> -Please don't mind that there will be a lot of spelling/grammar mistakes, I tend to write in the middle of the night hehe... and I don't really proofread before publishing because I’m lazy.

"You're fired"

Wooyoung widens his eyes in shock "what? But I-"

"I'm not changing my mind Wooyoung, you've tainted the image of my company, everyone is demanding to have you gone" His boss lets out a frustrated sigh. "I'm sorry but it's out of my hands now, you should have thought twice before writing that article with no evidence whatsoever"

Wooyoung watches his boss leave the room, wincing as he slams the door, a clear order to quickly pack up his things and leave. He groans loudly, hitting his head on the desk and cursing himself for writing that article. He knew it was risky but he didn't think it would get him fired. 

He blames himself for believing the call he got earlier in the week, he had gotten an anonymous tip from someone claiming to work at Crush, a world renowned make up company. They'd told him about a huge scandal the CEO had been involved in and Wooyoung bought it, and wrote that dammed article. 

It got taken down as soon as it was uploaded though, staff from Crush were quick to call up his workplace and force him to take it down. His boss had been so embarrassed, forcing Wooyoung to apologise then firing him straight away, as requested by Crush and his colleagues, no one wants a careless writer on their team. 

Wooyoung sulks as he clears his desk, leaving the room while trying to avoid the deadly glares directed at him. 

What makes it worse is that he's fresh meat, straight out of university, they're no doubt reacting even worse because he's 'young and clueless'. He tries staying optimistic though, he can just get hired at a different news agency, this was just the practice round, there are plenty more opportunities to be the journalist he's been dreaming of since he was young. 

He quickly exits without any goodbyes, knowing he's not welcome anymore so he leaves his first ever real job with a heavy heart.

~

As he's reaching out for his keys, a familiar voice calls his name. Wooyoung turns around to see his neighbour, who looks like he's about to leave in a rush. "Hey Hongjoong hyung, leaving for work?" Wooyoung smiles at him, but saying this makes him feel sad, since he's just come back from work after being fired. 

He nods, but then looks at him in confusion "Shouldn't you be at work too? Did you leave something at home?" Wooyoung just smiles sadly, looking down and fiddling with his keys "No, I've been fired"

Hongjoong widens his eyes "What in the world happened?" He looks like he's ready to comfort Wooyoung, which he takes that as an indication that he looks like he's about to burst into tears. 

Wooyoung just dismisses him, shaking his head "I'll tell you later, you should get to work otherwise you'll be late" he quickly shoos the reluctant man away before releasing a shaky breath. 

Usually, he wouldn't have told Hongjoong that he'd been fired, they're only neighbours after all, he doesn't want everyone to know that his first ever job was a failure. But, he and Hongjoong were actually very close, ever since the older had moved in a year ago, Wooyoung was all too happy to have someone around his age living next door to him. They had quickly got along and now have a somewhat sibling-like relationship. 

The emptiness of his apartment welcomes him as he walks in, going straight to the couch and plops himself down comfortably, he had a long day so he lets himself just relax and not think too much about being unemployed, he knows that if he thought about it too much then he'd drown himself in his sad emotions. 

But, Wooyoung knows he shouldn't bottle up his emotions so he decides to deal with them in a responsible way... by ranting to his best friend. 

"Hey Wooyoung what's up?" San answers the call with a cheerful tone, always happy to talk to his long time friend. 

"Hey Sannie..."

"What's wrong? Shouldn't you be at work right now? How come you're calling at this hour?" San must have heard the unusual sad tone in his voice, since he becomes concerned why Wooyoung is calling when he should be at work. 

"I'm not at work right now, I'm home" San gets more confused at this, why would he be home?

"Did something happen at work?" 

"Yeah... I got fired"

Wooyoung checks his phone to see if San's still on the line, he frowns in confusion when he can't hear anything form the other end of the line, "San? Can you hear m-"

"Hold up, I'm coming over, and you're going to tell me everything, from what you did and why the hell did you get fired for it..." San pauses for a suspicious amount of time. "You didn't sleep with someone at work did you??" San gasps, pretending to be scandalised. 

"No! It's nothing like that, just come over, and bring Yunho with you too." And with that, Wooyoung hangs up and sighs heavily, deciding to order pizza while he waits for his two friends. 

~

San's loud knocking is heard from Wooyoung's bedroom and he quickly rushes to open it, not wanting any complaints from his neighbours. San enters with a concerned look while Yunho comes in with a confused smile. "San wont tell me what's going on or why we're at your apartment, he just dragged me here" he laughs. 

They sit on the couch while Wooyoung offers them pizza, he doesn't know why he feels nervous about telling them why he got fired. To be completely honest, he's embarrassed. 

Embarrassed for getting fired at his first ever job, as soon as he started working. He's embarrassed because he made a rookie mistake, he completely understands why they fired him, his friends would too... they'd probably think he's a humiliation to his workplace, that he deserved to be fired. 

Wooyoung shakes his head, trying to get rid of his thoughts, there's no need to be hard on himself. You did well, it happens to the best of us, you worked hard for this job and you're not going to let one incident ruin your whole career. He calms himself before looking at his friends, who look up at him expectantly. It's not that big of a deal, stop making this into a huge crisis. 

"Okay, so I got fired from my job". Yunho widens his eyes at this, clearly not expecting that confession, San frowns sadly and before any of them can as questions Wooyoung continues. "It's because I wrote an article about Crush"

"Crush? The make up company? What did you say about them that got you fired" Yunho asks. 

"I wrote about the CEO who got into a scandal... which turned out to be fake news." San winces as he looks at his friends pout, he just knows Wooyoung is beating himself up about this. "I should have known, the only evidence I had was from a tip that called, I should have investigated more, found actual evidence. I just believed everything that person told me and wrote that damn article." He groans, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

"My boss was so angry when he'd heard that Crush's staff had taken down the article straight away, they'd even threatened to sue."

San pouts at his friends unfortunate fate. "Don't blame yourself Wooyoung, it happens, take this as a sign that you weren't supposed to work in that company, you'll find a new company that would be more than happy to hire you"

"Yeah but I wrote about Crush! The most famous multi millionaire make up company, they're going to make sure I can never work again!"

Yunho smiles, dragging Wooyoung down to the couch, handing him a pizza slice "don't be so dramatic! why would crush care about that, they just took down one false article and that's that, they won't remember who you are. Luckily they took it down before it spread." Wooyoung sighs, he supposes Yunho is right, he should focus his energy on finding a new job instead of wallowing in self pity. 

~

After a week, you could say that Wooyoung is... on a roll, he had applied to four different news agencies and was feeling pretty optimistic about them. They were all perfect and he didn't mind going to any of them. Now he just had to wait. 

Wooyoung treats himself with a nice new laptop to write his articles and research on, he's proud of himself for not letting his previous failure get the better of him. Wooyoung likes to move on. 

Except...

It's been a week now and still no replies from any of the places he'd applied to, not even any rejections. It makes him anxious, Yunho had told him not to worry and be reassured that there are no rejections at least. 

But Wooyoung can't act that simply and patiently so he calls one of the places he'd applied to. They pick up quickly, giving him hope that things would work out. But it doesn't. 

Wooyoung asks about his application and why he hasn't gotten a response when he was supposed to three days ago. The woman on the line sounds friendly, "Oh I'm so sorry about that, can I get your name?"

"Jung Wooyoung"

Wooyoung isn't sure if he was imagining things or not, but it sounded like a gasp coming from the other end of the call. He notices the woman stuttering "I- I'm sorry, but your application has been rejected". Hearing the uneasy tone of her voice, Wooyoung panics, she sounded like she was about to hang up abruptly. 

"Wait! Can i ask why?" he asks, but there's no response. 

He glances at his phone and she hasn't hung up yet, why was she acting so strangely? "Hello? Are y-"

"I apologise, but I am not aware of the reason why your application has been rejected by us, we wish you all the best with oth-"

"I think you do know, you sound like you do, why cant you tell m-"

"Jung Wooyoung, Sir, I can assure you that I do not know, w-why do you even want to know?" Wooyoung is getting annoyed with the way she keeps on interrupting him, he is so done with this. 

"You're going to tell me not, or I'm going to go there myself and get the answer!"

"NO! Wait!" There we go. Wooyoung sighs frustratedly, why is this person making this more complicated than it should be?

"I'll tell you, please don't come here, I'll get fired." Now this confuses him, a lot, why the hell would she get fired? He waits patiently for her to continue, since it seems like she needs time to prepare herself or something, he wonders why she's being oddly suspenseful about this. 

"It's because of who you are, you're Jung Wooyoung" he frowns in confusion, what's that supposed to mean... "you're the one in bad terms with Crush"

Ah. So that's what this is all about. Wooyoung tries to keep calm and collected, but he was right, they were out to get him, over that one mistake. He understands now. 

Wooyoung doesn't want to hear anymore but she continues anyway. "Every news agency knows about it, you're a notorious journalist now. No one wants to risk hiring you in case you make that mistake again, no ones ever made such a huge mistake with a powerful brand like crush, if i were you I-"

"Yeah I got it, thanks" Wooyoung hangs up on her, he doesn't want to hear any unwanted opinions. He had told himself that this wouldn't happen, not to worry, he should have listened to himself to avoid being disappointed. But it's not crush who is explicitly telling companies not to hire him, its his reputation that's scaring everyone now, deterring them from accepting him and instead identifying him as one mistake. 

He takes deep and slow breaths in an attempt to collect his thoughts, which works thankfully so he gathers up the courage to call the rest of the jobs he'd applied to. 

~

Wooyoung lies in bed, tapping mindlessly on his phone. He had been rejected from all of them, why? The same reason. No one can trust a rookie who got fired after writing his first ever article and has beef with a multi millionaire company. He doesn't let himself wallow in self pity though, he's stronger than that. Or so he thought. 

He texts San, letting him know that he didn't get any of the jobs, and the reason of course. He thought he was indifferent about his unfortunate luck, that he didn't care, it was just how life is, but one text from San makes him break. 

Sannie💕  
Aww Wooyoung, it sucks that people could be so shallow and unprofessional :( It's ok to be sad   
You did well, really  
I'm so proud of you  
You did your best and that's all that matters

Wooyoung lets out a choked sob. He really thought that he wouldn't cry over this but hearing such comforting words breaks his façade, and now, he just feels really. fucking. sad. He cries softly on his bed, letting himself just feel all the emotions in one go. 

Sannie💕  
You know we're always there for you right?  
Do you want me and Yunho to come over? If you want to talk about it? Or just want some company?

Wooyoung does. He really wants some company right now. He feels alone, no one trusts him anymore and now he's reduced to an unemployed crying mess. Luckily, his friends are always there for him and they're knocking at his door within minutes. 

He immediately pulls both of them into a hug, tears spilling out once again and they let him take all the time he needs and just embrace them. "I feel like my life is crumbling around me, I can't achieve my dream of being a journalist anymore" he confides in his best friends, they know him better than anyone, and he's more than comfortable with spilling out his emotions for them to pick up and tend to. 

"I know it may feel that way, but this is not the end! You'll find a job where you can pursue your dream career" Yunho holds the crying boy's hand, gently squeezing it. San grabs his hand too, patting his back with his other hand. 

"You may feel alone in the workplace, but there will be someone who wont identify you as your mistake, you deserve happiness Wooyoung, and I know you'll find it, you're not the same as anyone else, but that doesn't make you less worthy of success" Wooyoung cries louder, hearing is friends reasurre him makes him actually believe them, he cries of relief, letting himself adjust to their kind words after hours of blaming and cursing himself. 

Yunho pulls him into a hug, wiping his tears "It's ok, you may wish you hadn't made mistakes, but you did your best." Wooyoung squeezes him tightly as his sobs quieten, maybe its not the end of the world. 

~

Wooyoung has a plan. 

After a week of relaxing and planning his next steps, he decides to move. He needs to gain everyone's trust again so he can carry out his dream life. Hours of discussions with Yunho, San and Hongjoong has led him searching for a house outside the city, away from all that hustle and bustle... but not too far away from the city because he still wants to see his friends as much as possible. Once he has finally found a decent house in the suburbs, Wooyoung starts preparing straight away. 

He looks at the boxes in his living room, packing a house alone is tough. He doesn't plan to stay long there though, maybe a year or two? 

All he needs to do is find his breakthrough. He needs to clear his mind away from the city and start fresh, and the suburbs are perfect, not too loud like the city, but not too quiet like the countryside. He's going to write such revolutionary articles that all the companies will be begging to hire him. 

'Thanks hyung for helping me" he watches Hongjoong sort out the messy boxes on the floor as he waves a hand "its no problem Wooyoung, you know you can call me for anything." Wooyoung laughs as he struggles with a heavy box "I do, thank you"

He decides to only take the important furniture and leave things that would be too heavy and bothersome to move around on his own. 

When its time to leave, San crushes him in a hug, Yunho doing the same from the back. "I cant believe you're going so suddenly, how will we come over randomly or have spontaneous brunch outings??" 

Wooyoung chuckles, voice muffled because of San's chest. "Ey don't be so dramatic, I'm just an hour's drive away, plus I'm not staying there forever I just need a new start, some inspiration". San still doesn't seem impressed, but he respects his best friend's choice so he just pouts, staying silent. 

"Ok, but call us everyday got it? And video call! I'll miss your cute face" Yunho kisses his forehead and Wooyoung smiles fondly at his best friends. "Of course I will! I don't want to miss out on anything." He says and the two just crush him in a group hug again, laughing. 

Wooyoung looks over Yunho's shoulder to see Hongjoong waiting. He pulls away from his friends and walks over to him, hugging him tightly. "I know we're just neighbours, but it makes me sad that when you come back, we wont anymore, someone else will live there, I-"

"Hyung what nonsense are you saying! Is our relationship just neighbours? You're my one and only Hongjoong hyung, I'm going to call every single day and we'll meet up sometimes" Hongjoong seems to take comfort in his words as he loosens himself in the embrace, breathing a sigh of relief. 

"It doesn't matter if someone moves into my apartment and if we're not neighbours anymore, because we're not just neighbours. And I promise that when I come back, we'll still be as close as we are now" Hongjoong nods, embracing him one last time before he leaves. 

~

This new place is... big. 

It's much bigger than his small one bedroom apartment even though they're the same price, houses are obviously way more expensive in cities. He looks around taking in the emptiness, even with his old furniture none of the rooms will be filled. It doesn't matter anyway, I'll only be living here for a year or two, he keeps reassuring himself. 

Wooyoung doesn't know why he keeps needing to do that, it seems like he's made the wrong decision by moving. It's too late now anyway so he's going to have to put up with being all alone for a while. He shakes his head, this is not what's important now, his goal is to find some new inspiration and produce the best work this world has seen. 

It's quite cold in the big house, but an eerie sort of cold which makes him shiver. Unpacking had taken a lot of time so he decides to try and sleep. His bed isn't even made yet, but Wooyoung is too tired to put on some sheets so he tucks himself in wearily. 

Wooyoung isn't someone who's good at scary things and somehow he feels like he's in a horror movie. He considers calling San or someone, just to feel safer, but he honestly feels like he could fall asleep within minutes so he swallows up his fears and hides under his unmade covers, drifting off to an uncomfortable sleep. 

BANG

~~Here you go! The first chapter yaay! Honestly I wanted to keep writing but this was getting too long so I'll carry on in the next chapter, it kinda ruins the flow but this chapter has gone way over the 3k word mark.   
Also I know this chapter was all about Wooyoung, don't worry, we'll definitely see Yeosang in the next one.


	2. 2

BANG

Wooyoung quickly sits up, whimpering, he had almost fallen asleep, but now he's way too scared to even blink. He wonders where that noise came from, it had startled him so much his heart skipped a thousand beats. He frantically looks around the dark room, trying to find the source of the sound. 

He hears it again. A loud bang coming from the other side of his wall, his neighbour's house, which was weird because he could have sworn no one lived next door to him. 

Wooyoung widens his eyes as he quickly gets up from bed, scrambling out the door and into the living room and turns the light on. He grabs a fistful of hair, trying to calm himself down "I can't do this" he says as he grabs his phone, video calling Yunho. It's not that late in the night so hopefully he and San should be awake. 

Thankfully, Yunho answers straight away "Wooyoung! I thought you'd be asleep by now... are you ok? You look like you've just seen a ghost" 

Yunho is in bed with San, who is cuddling the taller. Hearing Yunho's concerned tone, San removes his face from his boyfriend's chest and looks at his friend. "Wooyoung, whats wrong? You have tears in your eyes, did something bad happen?"

Wooyoung lets out a shaky breath, "I'm just scared, alone, whoever's in the house next to mine is making scary noises and I'm so scared I cant sleep" 

"Oh Wooyoung, don't worry, we'll stay with you until you fall asleep, even if it takes the whole night, we're always here for you" Yunho says while San nods enthusiastically and Wooyoung feels like crying. One because he's scared shitless and two, because he's so unbelievably lucky to have friends like this. 

"Thanks guys" Wooyoung says, lying down on his sofa, not wanting to go to his room again. 

"Do you want to do anything? Watch a movie?" San suggests, but Wooyoung shakes his head "Just want you guys in my presence"

San giggles "don't worry Wooyoung, we're always in your presence, here" he says, poking Yunho's chest. Wooyoung giggles and with that, he quickly falls into a peaceful sleep with his friends by his side, or, in his hand rather. 

When Wooyoung wakes up, he discovers that this house isn't at all less scary in the daytime. Whoever lives next to him apparently loves to listen to very scary music. No words, just eerie music, like if you went to a huge ball but you were the only one there. 

He misses Hongjoong, this new neighbour keeps giving him heart attacks and high blood pressure due to his fight or flight being active all day. He doesn't know how long he can take this anymore, its only been a day and he's going crazy. How is he supposed to write revolutionary articles when he's not in the right state of mind because he's scared senseless. He needs to leave. 

Wooyoung shuts the front door and takes a well needed walk, which fortunately manages to clear his mind a bit. He purposely takes a long route, just to delay going back to his supposed home. 

His calm mind is destroyed once he gets back to his home, the music is still playing and Wooyoung doesn't know if he's going crazy but it sounds louder. He shakes his head

"I'm not doing this." He says and drives to a nearby hotel. 

~

Yeosang hates dinner, not the food, but the fact that he's required to eat with his parents every day. The large dining table makes it hard to even see their faces because they're so far away, but his father insists that he eat with them. His parents are nice to him, yes, but the problem was that they are annoying. His older brother is already training to take after their mother and become the next CEO of their modelling company. 

Which leaves Yeosang with no purpose. 

They already have the heir to the company so Yeosang is in charge of just being the good second son. 

Though, he does have the pleasure of being the face of the company, the best in the country, which he couldn't care less about. But, other than standing around looking pretty, Yeosang's brother gets most of his parents attention, because, you know, training to take over the company and all.

If it were anyone else in Yeosang's shoes, they'd take this opportunity to rebel and live their life however they wanted, being rich and all, travel the world whatever. But Yeosang had no desire to do any of that, he just behaves because he wants his parents to acknowledge him. 

Which is why he hates having dinner with them, all they did was eat in silence. His hyung didn't have to eat with them because he didn't live with them, unfortunately, Yeosang still does. 

Honestly if they did actually eat in silence, Yeosang wouldn't have minded as much but, his mother had been pestering him about a certain topic lately. 

"Yeosang. Honey, you know I don't ask much of you, your brother doing all the work and all" Yeosang grits his teeth, he hates the way she makes him sound useless, her gentle tone making it worse, patronising. "But your father and I just have one wish for you, you know the Kim family's son-"

"Mother, I've already told you I don't want to date. I'm happy being independent. Alone." His parents had suddenly wanted Yeosang to get married quickly, something stupid about tradition. 

They had gotten married at 25, his brother recently getting married at 25, and now they kept pestering Yeosang to get ready. Something about all his mothers descendants having gotten married at 25 which links to the success and wealth of their company... Apparently it makes sense in everyone else's head. 

His mother relentlessly follows him around, trying to convince him that the reason their company is the top in the country and among the top in the world, is because she married his father at 25, and the reason they were wealthy a hundred years ago is because of the same reason. She doesn't even care about him being gay, she just needs him married. 

"Why do I have to get married at 25 too? I'm not the next CEO." Yeosang had asked once, knowing this was a valid point but his mother had just muttered something and walked away, something along the lines of "damage control".

Yeosang is only 22, which gave him plenty of time, but his parents keep pestering him because they know it will be difficult. His past relationships were... complicated. "Yeosang, you need to search for a suitable candidate now, it'll be too late otherwise and-"

He cant do this anymore. 

"Ok. I didn't think I'd have to tell you this, but I do have a boyfriend", he says, just to make them happy but somehow he hates the way their faces light up with joy. 

"R-really? Oh that's wonderful, you need to work hard to keep the relationship this time". 

His mothers words make him curl his fists in frustration, its like she's saying he's the reason all his past relationships have failed. As if its his duty to satisfy his partner so that they want to marry him. No, he doesn't owe anyone his time, they can love him for who he is, not his face which, he learnt the hard way. 

Yeosang intends to stay alone forever, he's not going to make any effort unless its meant to be. He's happy being single and he hates the way everyone depicts being single as the saddest thing in the world. He just needs to get his parent off his back. 

"Yeah, we've been dating for a month now..." he finds it easy to lie through his teeth when its on a subject he passionately hates. His parents nod happily "who is it? What's his name?"

"Oh, I can't tell you his name, he's awfully shy and I know you guys would do a background check on him, I'll tell you about him when he's ready. But you can be assured I'm in a happy relationship, there's no need to worry"

His mother looks like she's definitely worrying, Yeosang silently curses. As expected, things like this wont go through her that easily.

"Ok, I promise not to do a background check on him, I just would love to know name of the boy who will help us carry on our sacred tradition" she smiles sweetly, narrowing her eyes as if testing Yeosang. 

"Oh, he's just um.. really shy, I'm going to have to ask him first." 

"Do you not trust your own mother Yeosang." Her voice is stern which makes him gulp. "I think you're lying to me, you don't have a boyfriend, you just want me to shut up"

His whole face goes red "no! I'm not lying, I really do have one"

"Then show me a picture, I need to see him now" Yeosang squeezes his eyes shut, no matter what he says, he knows she's never going to believe him. "I don't have pictures of him, we've only been dating for a month he's... shy..." he honestly just gives up at this point, even he's not buying it. 

"After dinner I am going to call Mrs. Kim and set up a date with you and Juwon as soon as possible. As expected, I have to do this myself." She shakes her head and gets up to leave. Yeosang has to do something.

"Wait! I have to tell you something" 

His parents look at him, waiting, but he hadn't thought of what to say next yet. 

"I'm moving to my own apartment." 

Yeosang just said the first thing that came to his head but his parents seem to not oppose the idea too much. Before they can ask why, he explains himself, making it up along the way. "I just thought a change of scene would be good for me, plus living here is quite far from my boyfriend, so I don't see him that often, which is why we don't have pictures of each other..."

His mother still doesn't buy it. "You said it was because he's shy, not where you lived." She seems too tired to argue anymore so she just shakes her head. 

"Fine, I know you're saying this just because you want to get away from me pestering you about a partner. Do whatever you want, BUT you are going on that date with that Kim Juwon boy as soon as his mother and I sort it out." 

He doesn't get a chance to reply as his parents swiftly leave the room, he's still in shock that his mother had let him move out so easily. He'll sort out the date thing later since he has no intentions of going out with some random person. 

Yeosang clumsily runs to his room, quickly looking for his laptop. He had told them he's moving without even finding a place to go. 

He quickly scrambles through multiple housing websites, he wanted something small, he never found the point of having such a big place when a lot of it is just going to be empty. It doesn't take long for him to find the perfect place, a small one bedroom apartment in the perfect location, away from his current home. 

He buys the place with no hesitations, even if its for a small while, he wants to buy the place to keep as a memory of his first ever piece of freedom. 

The process is fairly quick, he's able to get the keys in just a week. (A/N don't judge idk how buying a house works I know its not that quick and simple this is just fiction hehe)

Yeosang doesn't know why he hadn't considered moving out sooner, he really didn't have any place here so he might as well be on his own and explore a bit. He's oddly more excited than he thought he would be, not to be corny but it feels like a new chapter of his life is just about to begin. 

~

A week later, he is saying goodbye to his parents, who somehow seem extremely sad that he's leaving. "Stay safe honey, I don't know why you chose the middle of the city to move to but I respect your decision," Yeosang smiles awkwardly, respecting his decision is a rare occurrence so he takes it happily. "Even though its so far from us, you should've chosen somewhere closer to us!" She hugs him tightly, there is something sad with your last child moving out. 

After assuring his parents that he can take care of himself, he gets into his car and drives to his new destination. 

It doesn't really take long before he arrives to a pretty nice looking apartment complex and Yeosang cant help but smile, he's been smiling all day. 

He texts the landlord that he's here and ready to take the keys so he heads up to receive them. The man greets him and hands the keys over "These are yours forever now, you wont be needing me anymore." He looks at Yeosang's front door "Strange, I've never had anyone buy an apartment here, but eh your choice" the man shrugs, then looks at Yeosang and his one backpack. "You need help getting your things up? Furniture, luggages, I'm happy to help"

Yeosang looks at his stuffed backpack, he hadn't taken anything from home, he figured he'd just buy new furniture and clothes. But he did take his important things and favourite clothes, hence the stuffed backpack. "No thank you, this is all I have" he says, patting the bag. 

The man eyes him wearily, someone who bought a random apartment in a hurry and has no furniture or clothes did sound suspicious, he doesn't question him thankfully and leaves, letting Yeosang finally enter his first ever bought home. 

The house is bright, more than his old home. It's small enough that two windows light up the whole place, Yeosang loves it already. He finally is allowed to decorate his room just how he wanted, and no to fit the interior of his parents house. The previous owner had left some things but overall its empty. And perfect. 

Yeosang calls his best friend, who doesn't know about all this yet, he had purposely kept this a secret just for the fun of seeing his shocked face once he sees his place. "Hyung, I've sent you an address, please come to it as soon as possible."

Seonghwa sounds concerned as he replies to Yeosang "What, why? Are you in trouble, is someone there with you? Should I call the police?"

"No no its not like that, just come quick" Yeosang laughs at his worried voice, Seonghwa is too much of a panicked mother sometimes. 

Seonghwa seems to be close as he comes knocking at the door within ten minutes and when Yeosang opens the door, he's panting heavily "Are you ok!" he manages to say between deep breaths. 

"Hyung why are you so dramatic, come in" Yeosang drags the poor boy inside and hands him a glass of water. He waits for him to catch his breath a bit more and watches him scan the place. 

"Do you like it? I bought this place. Welcome to my new home" Yeosang says before he can ask. 

Seonghwa widens his eyes, suddenly standing up, "you what?" He exclaims, walking around the empty living room "how did your parents agree to this" Seonghwa knows they're not easy to convince, especially with things like this. 

"I have my ways" aka just getting on his mothers nerves to the point she agrees with him moving. 

He nods sceptically, then looks around the place "its nice, cosy..."

"You think its too small" Yeosang can always tell what the older is thinking, its his second language now that they've been friends their whole life. He's literally an open book to Yeosang. 

"No! It's not that, I just..." Seonghwa struggles with what to say because he knows Yeosang knows what he's thinking. 

"It's ok, I think its small too, but somehow I like it, despite the tiny space, its more freeing than living with my parents." It's understandable, Seonghwa gets it, he hopes one day his parents let him move out too. 

Yeosang takes Seonghwa with him to explore the place, though, there is not muck to explore. The kitchen is open plan, connected to the generously sized living room, with a small hallway leading to two doors on each side, a bedroom and a bathroom. "Should I hire an interior designer, I've never had the chance to decorate my own space, so I don't know if I-"

The doorbell ringing interrupts Yeosang's discussion, the two look at each other "Is that the landlord?" Seonghwa shrugs and they both carefully walk to the front door. 

Yeosang opens the door to see a young man around his age and around his height. He looks at him confusedly, why would this random person show up to his house, who sent him here? Yeosang's mind clouds so quickly with these thoughts that he almost misses the awkward clearing throat of the man in front of him.

"Um, hello, I heard you moved in today... I just wanted to introduce myself, I'm Kim Hongjoong, your next door neighbour, I live on the door to your right, number 5"

It's awkward at first with Yeosang's zero social skills, he has no idea why at first he thought this person was a spy or robber or whatever. But after he introduces himself, he gets excited. Yeosang has never had a neighbour before. "Hello! I'm Kang Yeosang, its so nice to meet you!"

Yeosang thinks he sounds a bit too enthusiastic but he doesn't care, and it only increases when a tray of brownies is handed to him "I don't even know if you like brownies, or eat gluten-free, or lactose intolerant, but I made these just now just as a welcome gift"

"Thank you!" Yeosang beams at him, making the other smile too. He forces Hongjoong to come in and have some of the brownies too. "I just moved today, so I apologise for the emptiness of my home" he says, not being able to offer him a seat. But the other only shakes his head "It's totally fine, you just moved in a couple of hours ago"

Yeosang smiles at his kindness then suddenly turns to Seonghwa "Oh- this is my friend, Seonghwa, he's just visiting my new place"

Hongjoong almost chokes on his brownie when he looks up to see the best looking man he's ever seen. "Uhh" his mouth is still full with brownies and suddenly he's embarrassed, and looks down. Luckily for him, Seonghwa speaks first "It's nice to meet you Hongjoong, since you're Yeosang's neighbour I hope you could look out for him, this is the first time he's moved"

Hongjoong looks at the hand Seonghwa has held out, and grabs it while wishing he had wiped his clammy hands first. "Yeah, don't worry" he says quietly and it's seems to have made Seonghwa smile, displaying a set of gorgeous pearly teeth. Hongjoong melts a bit and this is where he's thankful Yeosang is his neighbour, he doesn't know how he could handle a hot guy like Seonghwa living right next door to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~A Yeosang intro yay. Also I didn't even realise I'm so sorry Yunsan and Seongjoong have been introduced before the main ship *faceplam* 
> 
> BUT we get our first ever interaction next chapter, don't worry, so don't stop reading this pls   
> (;'༎ຶД༎ຶ')


	3. 3

Now, Yeosang does know how to take care of himself, he's not royalty,with servants doing very single thing for him but that doesn't mean he still didn't have assistants doing the hard things for him, like cooking... or cleaning.

Every morning he'd go it the table and there was always his breakfast ready for him, especially his coffee.

Yeosang pokes his coffee maker, not knowing what to do. He figured out where to put his mug, but nothing happened, even after pressing every button.

He sighs, not knowing what to do, he really needs his coffee.

He remembers Hongjoong telling him yesterday to call him if he ever needs anything, maybe he knows how to make coffee?

So Yeosang finds himself in front of Hongjoong's door, a bit hesitant to knock. To be honest he's a little embarrassed, it's probably so simple Hongjoong will think he can't do anything.

He swallows his shame and knocks on the door because he really needs some coffee and thankfully Hongjoong answers.

"Oh? Hi Yeosang, what brings you here?"

Yeosang fiddles with his sleeves "um you see, I'm" he scratches the back of his head "I don't know how to work a coffee machine and I really need some"

Thankfully, Hongjoong smiles instead of looking at him weirdly "I can help you! Come, I'll teach you"

Yeosang leads him to his coffee machine and Hongjoong nods "ah. You just need to fill container with water then press this to heat it"

Yeosang is surprised with how simple it is, he thanks him for his time sheepishly "no no it's no problem, everyone has a first time using something, no need to be embarrassed. I know I'm just your neighbour and with just met yesterday but you can ask for anything, ok?"

"Thank you Hongjoong... uh can I call you hyung?" Yeosang wonders if he'd overstepped some boundaries, they'd just met and he already wants to drop honorifics?

"Of course you can, also, may I ask how you make your coffee if you don't use the machine? Do you use a press or-"

"I... had someone make it for me" Yeosang didn't know why he was hesitant in telling Hongjoong this, maybe because he thinks he'll treat him differently if he knew his background.

"L- like a maid?" Hongjoong looks shocked when Yeosang nods, great. Now his chances of being treated ordinarily is down the drain.

"Look, hyung my parents run the Kang modelling agency, so yes, I'm rich, I have no experience in normal life, I've had maids do basic things for me, but I moved here to learn these things and get away for a while, please don't treat me differently and be patient with me" he begs that Hongjoong understands because he'll really be sad if he turns out to be a gold digger or something.

But he feels reassured when the older gets rid of his shocked expression into a comforting one "I won't treat you any differently Yeosang, your background doesn't mean anything to me so don't worry and live comfortably here ok? I'm here for you, don't be shy to ask me for anything"

He sighs in relief, so far so good, Hongjoong doesn't seem like a gold digger. He makes coffee for the both of them and they sit on the floor (he still hadn't bought any furniture), it's only been a day so he gives himself a break.

"So..." Hongjoong trails off, seeming to debate wether to say something or not, "your friend, he's not here?"

Yeosang eyes Hongjoong "No, he left yesterday..."

"Ah..." Hongjoong doesn't know why he's being like this, he's not one to lust at first sight. He shakes his head, he can't be like this. He has no time for these kind of feelings anyway, he needs to work on his goal and get his dream job he thinks. Anyway, if he's Yeosang's friend, he's probably rich too, and therefore way out of his league.

~

It's been a week and Yeosang has called Hongjoong over a total of three times, all lasting five minutes or less. He feels bad for dragging the older just for him to turn a knob or something but Hongjoong never accepts his apologies anyway, saying to use him whenever he needed.

Seonghwa had visited every day too, for the whole day, just to accompany him. "Don't you have meetings to go to? Training to do?" Seonghwa is the youngest of his family like Yeosang, not the next CEO. However unlike Yeosang he has an active role in his family's company, which meant he is always going to meetings, working etc.

"I do actually have a briefing in an hour but I don't want to break my streak of coming here every day" Yeosang rolls his eyes.

"It's been a week, you don't have to babysit me anymore hyung"

"You say that but you have no furniture yet and have coffee everyday because you're too scared to use the stove" Yeosang's butt does hurt from sitting on the floor, but it's nothing he can't handle.

"So what? You're going to move in with me? This is a one bedroom apartment"

"No, I just want you to live comfortably, stop being lazy and buy some sofas and a chef to cook you food or something, I come here everyday to check if you're not dead or anything"

Yeosang groans at him "you're being an annoying parent again"

"And you're being an annoying child"

"Ok ok, I'll sort myself out, just go, your meeting starts soon" he pushes a reluctant Seonghwa out the door and sighs, looking at the empty house.

His fridge is empty, his bedroom is empty except for his bed and a luggage where he keeps his clothes, his living room has no seats. He gets out his phone to look for some furniture when he sees that his mother had texted him.

**Mother**   
_In two days, Mrs. Kim and I have set up the date for you and Juwon, 1pm sharp. Do not be late. Two days._

Yeosang stares at the text, squeezing his eyes shut. He had left to escape his mother's incessant dating talk but it followed him here, He decides to ignore it and just look at sofas, occupying his mind with different thoughts like what colour theme should he have? Should he get wallpaper? Should he actually hire an interior designer?

An hour later of searching and potential things in his basket, another text pops up at the top of his screen.

**Mother**   
_Yeosang I can see that you've read my message. Why aren't you responding!_

He stares at the message, just wanting to shop in peace. He clicks on the chat and thinks of what to respond, he'll do anything not to go on that date.

Fortunately he is temporarily saved from responding when someone knocks on his door, quite frantically that is.

It seems urgent so he quickly heads to the from door, did Seonghwa leave something behind?

"Hyung, why-" Yeosang looks at the stranger who had practically been drumming on his door.

He looks quite flustered and out of breath "who-"

Yeosang can't even finish his sentence before the rude stranger barges in his house. Yeosang panics, is he a robber? Is he going to kill me?

He frantically grabs the man's arm "what are you doing!"

The man seems to be out of his senses, trying to get Yeosang's grip off his arm. "This isn't your house, it's mine!"

Yeosang blinks in confusion "what are you talking about? I live here"

The other scoffs, "how long have you been living here?"

"A week?" Why does this stranger need to know this, who is he?

"I've lived here for two years!" He shouts. Yeosang hums in understanding, this person must have been the previous resident. But... why is he here?

"I've lived here longer so this is my place"

Yeosang scoffs this time, who does this idiot think he is?

"Look, it doesn't work like that, you moved out, I moved in. This is my place now." Not to be childish, but Yeosang takes extra care to rub it in.

The man blinks. "You can move somewhere else, let me live here."

Yeosang looks at him incredulously, "and why would I do that? I bought this place"

His eyes widen "YOU WHAT?!?!"

"Yeah. This place is mine, now leave before I call the police." Yeosang tries to scare him away but he stays incessant.

"You don't get it, I have no where else to go, this is the only place I can move to"

"And why is that?"

He groans. "Because! This is the perfect place! It's so cheap and it's next to the station and I've made so many memories here!"

Yeosang doesn't know what this guy wants but he's not buying it. "Then you shouldn't have moved then" he starts to push the guy out the door but he resists.

"No! Wait, I really don't have anywhere to go, I'm unemployed and I can't afford any other place but this, I've already signed papers to move out of my other place."

Yeosang tries his best to be assertive. Playing the pity card always worked on him, and the other gives him really genuine puppy eyes, his hesitation gives him the opportunity to talk more.

"Please! Let me live here for a bit until I find a place to live, I'm unemployed" this man really has no shame Yeosang thinks.

"Don't you have friends, why don't you stay at theirs?"

"Yeah but I can't bother them like this"

Yeosang scoffs "and you bother a stranger?" He can't believe the nerve of this guy.

How can anyone barge into someone else's home and try and take them out, he's not a coloniser for fucks sake.

Yeosang honestly doesn't know how to get him out, he has no intention of letting some stranger stay, he could have been lying and is actually a serial killer. But this guy is acting so stubborn and shameless. He looks down at his phone in his hand when it buzzes.

**Mother**   
_I can see that you've read this message too. Kang Yeosang, you wouldn't dare to ignore your mother. You have a date in TWO DAYS._   
_I'm going to call you. Right. Now._

Now Yeosang panics for real, he absolutely cannot go on a date, he quickly texts his mother a 'wait!' before she can call him, so he has a little time to think of what to do.

He frantically looks around, thinking of what to do, when his eyes land on the man in front of him. He looks around his age, average looking, and Yeosang gets the worst idea he's ever had.

No, that's not an option are you crazy?! His mind tells him.

But his mother is already texting him, impatient for an answer.

And in the spur of the moment, he takes the decision that seems to be the quickest solution, so he takes a deep breath and holds eye contact with the man in front of him.

"Do you like men?"

The other furrows his eyebrows "why? Are you scared to live with me if I like men?"

Yeosang doesn't have time for this "just answer me."

He must have looked intimidating because the man suddenly looks down, fiddling with his jacket sleeve. "Yeah. I do"

Yeosang sighs in relief, one step done. Now it's his turn to be shameless, because his mother is currently threatening to call him.

"Ok, I'll let you live her-" the other starts celebrating, blurting out thank yous but Yeosang stops him immediately.

"On one condition."

The man seems to sense Yeosang's nervousness, which proves to be contagious as he looks at him skeptically "ok... what's this condition?"

"You have to pretend to be dating me"

He frowns, mind and body frozen, not expecting that, "um, why?"

"It's complicated but my mother is going to essentially pull me into a forced marriage, and I need to prove to her that I have a boyfriend so she doesn't."

The other seems to ponder the situation for a while and Yeosang taps his foot impatiently. Well, neither of them have nothing to lose.

"Ok, I agree as long as I get to live here until I find a new place".

Yeosang releases a loud sigh of release "thank you." This temporary solved a big problem, to which he doesn't even care about the consequences right now, he just texts his mother.

**Yeosang**   
_Mother. I told you, I have a boyfriend. I can't go on that date._

Yeosang can now say this confidently (even though it still isn't true) but he's happy for now.

**Mother**   
_Yeosang I'm not in the mood for your lies. I will not believe you have a boyfriend until you give me proof._

Proof, Yeosang looks up from his phone to see the other looking at him curiously. He pulls him by the arm and shoves the phone in his face. "My mother wants proof of us, let's take a selfie".

The other nods, seeming indifferent about this whole situation, Yeosang is a bit skeptical but it's better than him being completely against it.

He lifts the phone to show both their faces. "Smile then" the other tells Yeosang. He honestly doesn't know how to smile anymore, this is too stressful.

But, after managing a strained smile, Yeosang manages to take a picture of the two of them and send it to his mother.

**Yeosang**   
_Now do you believe me? I managed to convince him to take a picture with me because you kept pushing for it, I told you he's not comfortable yet but I had to do this for you._

[insert woosang selca- sorry idk how to upload pics here]

Yeosang really decides to milk it and make it seem like this is a big deal and it's all her fault. But he almost smacks himself when he forgets the most important thing and looks up to the other. "What's your name?"

"Jung Wooyoung" he says quietly, Yeosang's state seems to be too intimidating right now, mostly because he's determined to convince his mother and not go on that date.

**Yeosang**   
_Meet my boyfriend, Jung Wooyoung._

Texting those words hit Yeosang like a truck. What did he just do. He stares at Wooyoung like he's an alien as it hits him that he now has a roommate who is apparently his boyfriend too.

His mother texts back which cheerful words, ' _oh well done, I was hoping you were telling the truth, I'm proud of you!_ ' But her words don't comfort him, it seems like she only cares about him when he's with someone else, just his own self isn't enough for his mothers love.

He sighs deeply, at least she's off his back for now. However, with one problem taken care of, Yeosang seems to have a new one.

Wooyoung shuffles his feet nervously, "um, I still don't know your name". Since he has not pretend to be this person's boyfriend, does actually need to know his name.

"Kang Yeosang, sorry about all that, I told my mother your name and she's seen your face which means she'll most likely do a background check on you." He says as an attempt to show him whats he's gotten into but Wooyoung just shrugs.

"Eh she wont find anything interesting, I'm not a criminal or anything."

Yeosang nods slowly, not knowing what to do now. He's at his new home with a new roommate... in his one bedroom apartment. "Since this is my apartment now... which means the bedroom is mine... you can sleep in the living room"

Wooyoung grimaces at him "Am I supposed to sleep on the floor or something? There's nothing in here" He says, gesturing to the living room as if Yeosang doesn't know this already.

"Well, your fault for begging me to let you stay here"

"Well you begged me to be your boyfriend, you don't look like the type to jump on someone like that." Wooyoung says but flinches when Yeosang shoots him a glare in response. "Oh yeah? Well don't judge a book by its cover. Anyway, I already explained to you why I need you to act as my boyfriend, and I repay you by letting you live here. Win win"

He quickly walks away, not wanting to talk anymore but Wooyoung follows him annoyingly like a roach. "Why haven't you furnished this place yet? Why didn't you just bring your old furniture here when you moved if you didn't want to buy new ones? Did you not have sofas in your old house?"

Wooyoung doesn't seem to be getting the hint when Yeosang actively tries getting away from him, or maybe he notices and just ignores it. "You've been here for a week, are you planning to leave soon, its that why? Wait no... that makes no sense since you bought this place" Wooyoung just mumbles to himself when it hits him. "You bought this place! Why??"

Yeosang doesn't appreciate the yelling as he tries to fold his laundry, Hongjoong had taught him how to use the washing machine earlier this week. "I just felt like it" Wooyoung widens his eyes, "YOU f- you FELT like it?!? Are you filthy rich or something"

Wooyoung tries imaging in how it would feel I like buying an apartment because he felt like it. He cant. "What are you? Why are you living here if you're so rich... you said your mother was going to force you to date someone! Are you a prince? Is the date for politics?"

Yeosang wants to smack himself for agreeing to let this annoying person live with him for the time being, he's not used to someone as chatty as this, Seonghwa is definitely different to Wooyoung. "If I buy you a sofa to sleep on, will you please go away? This is my room, why did you follow me in here"

Wooyoung frowns, halting his list of questions. "Ok! I'll leave... someone's moody"

Yeosang also doesn't appreciate Wooyoung's muttering but he's not going to comment on it, he's too tired to be more moody.

When his doorbell suddenly rings and Wooyoung shouts that he'll get it, Yeosang panics and goes after him, how can Wooyoung open the door when Yeosang lives here? What it if it's Seonghwa?

But the other doesn't seem to care as Yeosang is a second too late to stop him and the door is swung open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~ This isn't really a cliffhanger because its someone quite predictable :D
> 
> This is supposed to be a strangers to lovers but woosang are emitting raging enemies to lovers vibes asdfjk;l I'll try to tone it down a little. Even though I love me some enemies to lovers, that's not the atmosphere for this fic lol.


	4. 4

"Hongjoong hyung!" Wooyoung shouts and wraps his arms around the older's neck. Hongjoong is so surprised that he freezes for a bit, registering the voice that had called him and the body that had hugged him. 

"Wooyoung? What are you doing here, aren't you supposed to be like an hour away?" He returns the hug and looks over Wooyoung's shoulder to give Yeosang a puzzled look. 

He watches the two embrace, at least he now knows that Wooyoung really did live here before him and isn't a serial killer.

"Do you know Yeosang? How come you're here?" Hongjoong asks Wooyoung when they separate and he gets a mischievous laugh in response. 

"He's my boyfriend" he very loudly whispers while pointing at Yeosang. Hongjoong gasps, looking at Yeosang in shock, not believing what he's just heard. 

The said boy is shaking his head furiously, "No! We're not actually dating" Yeosang exclaims while glaring at Wooyoung. "he's just pretending to be my boyfriend for a bit because... its complicated, I'll explain later"

Hongjoong is still confused though. "That doesn't explain why you're not in your house and instead in your old house with a stranger" actually he's even more confused now "... a stranger who you're fake dating?"

Wooyoung looks down sheepishly "ah... I moved out of that place, I got here around an hour ago" he says and Hongjoong looks at him in shock for what seems like 10th time today. Yeosang waits for the reason since he also has no idea why Wooyoung moved out after only two weeks and come back to his old place. 

"Don't laugh at me, but I moved out because that house was too scary for me to live in" Wooyoung is serious when he says this, which stops Yeosang from bursting out in laughter, he looks like he had encountered ghosts or something. "Every day there were weird noises and banging, I stayed out all day because I was scared of being in there and I had Yunho and San on call every night to help me sleep. I even stayed at a motel for four days before I ran out of money so I had to go back."

It's a valid reason Yeosang thinks, if it were him, he'd have gone crazy if he hadn't moved out straight away. Wooyoung made the right decision but he is still curious about one thing. "So why come back here? Why not find a new place to live?"

Wooyoung sighs "At first, I thought no one had moved in yet, it had been two weeks. But when you opened the door, I knew it was over, but after some begging and you needing a favour we worked out a nice compromise"

Wooyoung looks delighted to be at his old house again. "This is the perfect place, its near everything and its surprisingly cheap for the extortionate housing prices here. I literally cannot afford any place else. I promise to still pay rent though, even though you freakin' bought this place, we could have shared rent or something"

Yeosang nods, kind of confused with Wooyoung's reasoning but whats done is done so he just sighs and nods. "You don't need to pay rent to me, I have my own source of income, you just work on getting a job and moving out of here"

Wooyoung scoffs, who would reject an extra source of income. He's secretly glad anyway because he'd eventually not be able to pay rent, which would become very awkward. 

Once Hongjoong is gone and it's the two of them again, Yeosang orders food for dinner because he still hasn't learnt how to cook basic things... and he doesn't want Wooyoung to know so he nicely gets take out for the two of them. 

"So, how long do you think it'll take you to find a job? A month or two?" Yeosang tries to make conversation as an apology for being moody earlier. 

Wooyoung chokes on his food. "Uhm, you see... I'm in a bit of a sticky situation" he smiles sheepishly. 

Yeosang doesn't like the sound of that. "What kind of situation?" 

"I'm an aspiring journalist but the problem is, that I'm kind of infamous in that field now and no one wants to hire me." 

Yeosang widens his eyes. "What? So... it's going take long for you to find a job?"

"Relax, I've got a plan. Also stop trying to kick me out so quickly, aren't I supposed to act as your boyfriend for at least a while?"

Yeosang is now quite weary of what he's gotten himself into. "Fine. My schedule is unpredictable so I don't know if we'll even see each other much anyway."

Wooyoung nods, then furrows his eyebrows "what do you work as? You didn't tell me before" Wooyoung wonders what kind of job pays him so much that he can randomly buy houses and reject extra income. 

"I'm a model" the other replies and Wooyoung just realises that he hasn't really looked at Yeosang properly. 

He's definitely pretty enough to be a model. In fact, he's perfect for it, he notes that his features are quite unique, Wooyoung would have thought he was a foreigner or at least half Korean. 

"Yes I am a model, you can stop looking at me now"

Wooyoung clears his throat "I was just checking to see if I recognised you from anywhere" he scratches the back of his head. Nice save. 

"My parents own Kang modelling agency, I'm the face of the company... if... you do recognise me." Yeosang trails off, a bit embarrassed. He doesn't even know why he said all that, Wooyoung hadn't even asked. 

"Ah! I do recognise you now! You did look familiar" Wooyoung nods in remembrance, as a journalist, he's required to at least know about the top companies, the Kang modelling agency is very well known. 

So Yeosang is definitely very rich Wooyoung concludes. He's a model and his family run a multi millionaire company. He's sort of intimidated in his presence now, especially being unemployed, he feels like Yeosang is doing charity work for him.

"So... what can I do for you? I mean- I'm acting as your boyfriend, do I need to meet anyone or..."

"You've done your part, I appreciate you agreeing to this but I don't need you to act as my boyfriend anymore, just focus on getting a job." Yeosang knows that his other won't bother him anymore now that she's seen concrete evidence, Wooyoung won't even have to meet her. 

Wooyoung frowns, now he really feels like Yeosang is doing charity work for him, letting him live here for free without doing anything back. 

"Oh... ok, but-"

Yeosang shushes him suddenly, grabbing his phone and startling him when he lets out a loud groan and bangs his head on the table. 

"Are you ok?" Wooyoung tries to get his head off the table but then Yeosang suddenly sits up, scaring him. 

His phone is shoved into Wooyoung's face, looking surprised at the text message. 

Mother  
Yeosang, I know it hasn't been long but I'm just too excited! I need to meet Wooyoung, how about next week at the networking event? 

Yeosang runs a hand through his hair, he looks very stressed Wooyoung notes. The message is very abrupt and blunt, no room for arguing or compromise. Yeosang knows he has to go. 

"I'm really sorry, I guess your job isn't over... this might be difficult to get out of." Yeosang knows he's in deep now that his mother expects him and Wooyoung at an event. She's no doubt going to show everyone else too. 

"It's fine! I don't mind, don't be sorry" Wooyoung really doesn't mind doing this favour, he'd rather that than do nothing and feel like he's in debt to Yeosang. 

Yeosang smiles at him for what's probably the first ever time. "Thank you"

After dinner, Yeosang goes into his room, mumbling a 'night' despite it being 8pm and Wooyoung is left in the empty kitchen. He has no idea where he's supposed to sleep so he just stays in the kitchen for now. Now that he's alone for the first time since arriving here, he feels a bit sentimental, this was his first and only apartment which he loved so much even though it's tiny. Now its someone else's and even though he's here again, it's only temporary and Yeosang seems in a hurry to get him out, which kind of makes him feel unwelcome. 

He pouts, he's always likes the idea of having a roommate but Yeosang seems to very much dislike the idea. Maybe he's not used to living in such a small place with someone else, he has no doubts that his old room was probably the size of this whole apartment or even bigger. 

It's his first night back in his old home so Wooyoung decides to cheer up, he'll get Yeosang to be more comfortable around him, its only been a few hours and not everyone has Wooyoung's remarkable social abilities. He gets his phone out to call his friends, who don't know anything about how different his life is now from what it was this morning. 

"Hey Wooyoung, we were wondering when you were going to call" Yunho says while San waves in the background. 

"Hi yuyu, sannie" Wooyoung greets his friends then moves his camera to show where he is. The pair look extremely confused at the familiar place "That looks exactly like your old kitchen... Wooyoung you're not back at your apartment are you? How?"

He chuckles at the very puzzled looks on their faces. He takes a screenshot before deciding to explain to them what has happened over the past day. "You guys will never believe this"

~

Wooyoung sits up from the hard floor in the living room after being scared awake by whoever's knocking at the door extremely loudly, Hongjoong sometimes comes at this time so he figures its him. "I'm coming!" Wooyoung groans, his muscles stiff from the cold floor (Yeosang did have the decency to lend some blankets though). 

He remembers that Yeosang did order sofas yesterday after his nagging, and they're coming today. Maybe it's the sofa people. 

He wipes the sleep off his face and opens the door, a man around his age is standing in front of him. Wooyoung looks behind the man, no sofas... "who are you?" He says, confused. 

The man looks equally as confused "who are you?"

Wooyoung is about to respond when he hears Yeosang suddenly running to the front door, and roughly pulling him away from it. "Seonghwa hyung! You're early today"

"Yeosang who's this??" Seonghwa points at Wooyoung with a very puzzled expression, he knows Yeosang is 100% not a one night stand kind of guy, so he's extremely confused as to why there is a guy at his house at this time of morning. 

"I'm his boyfriend, who are you?" Wooyoung pushes past Yeosang and stands in front of the taller man, looking him up and down, trying his best to look intimidating. 

Seonghwa's jaw drops open "wha-" 

"No no!" Yeosang quickly interrupts and smacks Wooyoung's arm "stop telling everyone that you're my boyfriend"

"But it's true" Wooyoung pouts, he's kind of having fun doing this acting thing. "It's fake true so don't go telling everyone that we're dating!" Yeosang snaps. 

Seonghwa watches the two bicker "can someone please explain to me whats going on!"

"Come in, I'll explain" Yeosang pulls his friend inside and does what he's asked to do. 

Once Seonghwa is caught up, he looks at Wooyoung sceptically "I'm still not convinced as to why you begged Yeosang to let you stay here, are you a stalker, a fan? You managed to trick Yeosang into being your boyfriend huh, Yeosang is very gullible so-"

Before Wooyoung can defend himself against Seonghwa's accusatory words, Yeosang interrupts him. "Hyung what are you talking about? I know I'm gullible but not to that point, have some trust in me. I'm not going to let someone live with me if I didn't trust them, I'm the one who needs him to be my boyfriend for a while, I didn't get brainwashed into anything."

The older sighs "fine, I was just trying to be the protective parent anyway, I trust you at least that much not to let a murderer live with you"

Wooyoung just nods, the two friends seem to be having a moment so he lets them be since his name has been cleared for him. He swears he's not a criminal. 

After an hour of them chatting and Wooyoung sitting with them awkwardly, Seonghwa has to leave for work, it becomes silent once he's gone. 

"Sorry abut Seonghwa hyung, he doesn't seem to trust people that easily" Yeosang says, Wooyoung can see that he's genuinely apologetic. It's really no big deal. 

"Don't worry, I understand. I'm more confused as to why you agreed to let me live here, a complete stranger. We still are technically strangers."

Yeosang knows his decision was a sketchy one, anyone else would have just made Wooyoung leave no matter what. "I admit it was a spur of the moment decision. My mother had messaged me about a date and I needed an excuse right there and then. You were my excuse. Plus, you were literally begging me and I could tell you were being truthful." Yeosang is good at identifying who's being truthful or not through experience (he learnt it the hard way). 

Wooyoung nods their situation definitely is a win-win situation. Thinking about yesterday reminds him of the conversation he had with his friends last night. "Oh yeah i forgot to mention this but my friends are coming over, they want to meet you"

Yeosang is taken aback at this sudden pice of information. "Friends? As in plural? How many are coming over, why do they want to meet me?" This sounds awfully like a party or something, which is definitely not his kind of scene. Even though he has to often go to parties because of his job and parents, its not like he enjoys them. 

"Relax, its just two friends, they just want to say hi" Wooyoung reassures him, Yeosang doesn't know why he's overreacting like this. It's going to be fine. 

As if on cue, a knock is heard and Wooyoung runs to open the door, wearing a huge smile. When the door swings open, Yeosang watches as two people envelope the other into a long hug. "I know its been two weeks only but we've missed you so much Wooyoungie" one of them say. He notices that the pair are holding hands, cute. And that they have a cute height difference. 

His roommate lets them in and they immediately walk to Yeosang. "Wow... you really are a model huh" the shorter of the two says, earning a smack from Wooyoung "stay in your lane, that's my boyfriend you're talking to"

Yeosang rolls his eyes, he knows that they're joking, they're even laughing at Wooyoung's little joke but he honestly doesn't know how to feel, but he's going to have to tell Wooyoung to dial it down with the acting. "I'm San and this is my boyfriend Yunho" the man introduces them, shaking him out of his thoughts. "Hi I'm Kang Yeosang"

"So, Yeosang, Wooyoung tells me that your family runs the Kang modelling agency right? Interesting..." Yunho says, eyeing him as if he's sending him a secret message that he's supposed to understand. 

"Yeah..."

"And I'm sure Wooyoung has explained his job and also why he's in the situation that he's in right now" he continues, waiting for something in Yeosang to click but he doesn't seem to understand where Yunho is going with this. 

However, Wooyoung seems to have got it and quickly stops him "what are you saying, he cant do that". Wooyoung swiftly shuts him down and Yeosang still hasn't understood, he feels dense. 

He looks at Wooyoung for him to explain but he just shakes his head. "It's nothing, don't worry". Yeosang frowns, it doesn't seem like nothing with the way he stopped Yunho from speaking any further but he lets it go since they've changed the topic of conversation to something else now. 

They stay for a long time, which Yeosang doesn't mind at all. It gives Wooyoung some company since he knows he's very boring to be around. Or at least that's what he's convinced himself, he's told Seonghwa many times that he doesn't have to be friends with him if he's too dull but he just gets a smack in the head in response, followed by some comforting words of course. 

He and Seonghwa have been friends since they were young because his family are designers. Where they made the clothes, Yeosang wore them and its still like that today. Whenever he's having a bad day, he can't help himself thinking that Seonghwa is only putting up with him because their families companies are close allies and if they were on bad terms, they'd lose a big brand modelling their clothes. 

But then he forces himself back into reality and stop thinking catastrophically for his mental health's sake. He knows that Seonghwa loves him very much and vice versa, he's shown it millions of times. Seonghwa is the only person that's really been there for him throughout his whole life, he's seen his best and worst moments. So he appreciates the fact that he has at least one friend and that he's an amazing one. 

He looks at the three in front of him, chatting and laughing. Hopefully he can make three more good friends. Maybe four if he counts Hongjoong, every time he's talked to him (granted, it has only been two times) he seems like a very cool hyung he'd love to have in his life. 

His eyes trail from the trio to just Wooyoung, he hopes they can be friends too, honesty. He admits he was a bit rude to him yesterday but in his defence Wooyoung had just barged in and demanded to stay here and with the added stress of his mother threatening him, it was a bad day yesterday. 

Yeosang has no intentions of actually dating anyone, he's perfectly fine being single. He just needs Wooyoung to act as his partner for a bit, which he's already good at and clearly doesn't mind doing. He hopes they can be good friends through this crazy incident, he'd love to have Wooyoung as a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~ I know this is a horrible excuse for a filler chapter ugh I don't like this chapter, its just 3,000 words of people meeting each other.   
> Ok enough of the self hatred, I swear I'm not fishing for compliments idk why I feel like this.  
> I hope it gets more interesting next chapter!


	5. 5

Wooyoung lies down on his sofa bed (yes, it's actually very comfortable) and mindlessly scrolls around on his laptop. He's home alone since Yeosang is at work today, something about a photoshoot, and one tomorrow too. He can't call any of his friends because they're at work too so he's currently extremely bored. He knows he should be doing something productive like figuring out how he's going to get a job again, but he has no motivation to do anything right now, and that's okay. 

He scrolls through his social medias and getting bored very quickly, he remembers Yeosang, who is a model. Wooyoung gets curious and looks him up, remembering that he's the face of the Kang modelling agency. 

He isn't surprised when hundreds of photos come up, all very beautiful. Yes he admits, Yeosang is good looking, how can he not when he's literally the face of the biggest modelling company. 

As he scrolls through different pictures, Wooyoung slowly starts to recognise him, and as a journalist, he's actually meant to keep up with these kind of things, he definitely knows the big companies like the Kang modelling agency and who the CEOs are, but he never paid attention to the actual models.

He admires Yeosang's work, looking good in everything, even some ugly outfits (in his opinion) and he looks good with different make up styles too. Wooyoung concludes that modelling must come naturally to him, his parents must have been delighted to have made such a unbelievably good looking child since they coincidentally run a modelling company, Yeosang is literally the blueprint for the beauty standard... like officially literally. 

This fact dawns on him as he scrolls through magazine covers, Yeosang is definitely his type. Wooyoung wouldn't like to admit that he has a type, usually he likes people for their personality and if their faces is nice too, that's a lucky bonus. 

He wouldn't be able to describe to anyone if they asked him his type, he doesn't care about specific things like sharp jawline or nice nose, if he likes a face, he likes it. However, now that he's seen Yeosang's professionally taken pictures and his bare face, Wooyoung realises that Yeosang is his type, every feature just looks so nice and they all look good together. 

He feels slightly overwhelmed at this discovery that Yeosang is handsome. So he closes his laptop and takes a nap. 

~

Yeosang sits down on his chair, tired since he had just finished a long and quite difficult shoot. They were experimenting with different photographers and this one today must have had their balls kicked before coming here, he was very moody and dissatisfied with all the pictures and poses. 

He couldn't care less though, this shoot is over, he has another tomorrow. People overlook the difficulty of modelling, Yeosang is always physically tired after some shoots, having to stand in uncomfortable positions, or in extremely hot or cold weather. 

He had grown to ignore the photographers anger because they'd shout at him just because of a lighting problem or a wardrobe malfunction when he should be shouting at the designer or something. 

It’s sad that he’s always the one who people take their anger out on because he’s the centre of attention. It's not his fault that the prop fell from the wall, its the set designers. But he's the one who always gets shouted at because he's the one on camera. 

The shoot had run over so he hadn't eaten in hours and as he closes his eyes and takes a rest, Yeosang thinks back to yesterday and remembers what Wooyoung's friend Yunho had tried telling him. He had said something about Wooyoung and his current situation but Yeosang didn't get what he was trying to say. He would have just left it at that but the way Wooyoung had so quickly shut Yunho down and didn't let him elaborate, only made him more curious. 

After taking care of some admin, Yeosang comes home to the smell of food. He thought Wooyoung had ordered some lunch but he sees him in the kitchen, cooking. He watches him silently, surprised at the sight. 

Yeosang hadn't even realised he was staring until Wooyoung lets out a shocked gasp, clutching his chest. "You scared me! What the hell are you doing just standing there like a scarecrow" 

He looks around "ah sorry, I was just surprised, I didn't know you can cook" Yeosang can tell he's a good cook, the food smells divine. 

"Yeah, I figured you can't, you've been ordering food every single day since I got here, and you've probably been doing that since you moved too judging by the empty fridge and cabinets." Wooyoung tuts at the other "take out isn't healthy you know, also expensive but I doubt that affects you but my wallet cries every time I see a delivery person handing you food." 

Wooyoung figures cooking is a nice way to repay his roommate, he enjoys it too so he doesn't mind. He thinks paying for groceries makes up for the fact that Yeosang is refusing rent from him. 

"You've only been here two days! I didn't order food every day before you came" Yeosang protests, which isn't completely a lie, he had eaten out with Seonghwa when he'd first moved in, that technically isn't take out... its dining in. 

"Whatever, just sit, luckily you came just in time because the food is still hot, I'm almost done" Yeosang does as he's told, looking forward to lunch since he's starving. He has coffee for breakfast every day because that's the only thing he can make, then orders food for lunch and dinner, he'd die for some homemade food right now. 

When Wooyoung lays a plate for each of them and doesn't move, Yeosang pauses "what?"

"You try it first, I want to know what you think" Wooyoung looks at him expectantly, Yeosang cant tell if he's nervous or confident but he figures he probably doesn't care that much so he takes a bite. 

He lets out a sigh of content as the fresh food hits his starved taste buds. "It's great, thanks" Yeosang quickly mutters before indulging in the food. Wooyoung beams at the compliment and takes a bite, yup, delicious as always. 

When they're done, Yeosang helps with the dishes, they had agreed on splitting the chores to make sure their living space stays intact. Although, Wooyoung feels like he only does the chores, mostly because Yeosang isn't used to it and therefore doesn't do them very well, but the effort is there at least. 

"So, I wanted to ask you something..." Yeosang says, washing his plate with full concentration. 

Wooyoung sighs as he sees Yeosang scrubbing his plate with hand wash instead of washing liquid. "What is it"

He's done washing his plate, not knowing why it smelt so strong but he sits down on the bar stool behind their counter anyway. "What Yunho said yesterday, I didn't understand what he was trying to say." Even though Wooyoung's back is facing him, he notices him pause for a second, before quickly resuming the dishes. 

"Oh. It's nothing"

"That's what you said yesterday but it doesn't seem like nothing" Yeosang presses, wanting to know what it is and why Wooyoung is making this seem like a bad thing. 

"I told you, its literally nothing, Yunho wasn't saying anything, its no big deal" Wooyoung says, not stopping his chores. 

"If its nothing then why can't you tell me?" 

Wooyoung finally turns around, Yeosang expected him to look annoyed but he doesn't. "I don't want to tell you"

He furrows his eyebrows, "why?"

"Because" Wooyoung sighs, running a hand through his hair "it's embarrassing, and- ugh" he stops talking and turns around. 

Yeosang sighs, he clearly doesn't want to tell so he stops trying to get him to talk. However, Wooyoung stays unmoving for a few seconds before turning back to face him "you know why I can't find a job right, I told you"

He nods, aware of Wooyoung's unfortunate fate "yeah, no one wants to hire you because of an unlucky mistake with crush"

The other nods, "Yunho reiterated that you work for Kang agency right?" Yeosang bobs his head, not really knowing where Wooyoung is going. "The biggest company in our country, arguably quite powerful?"

It finally clicks in his head what Yunho was suggesting. 

Wooyoung continues "So if someone like me published an article under your company, their reputation would be repaired because if a company more powerful than Crush uploaded an article written by a hated journalist... they would trust him again?"

It was a long shot but it makes sense nonetheless and worth trying at least. Yeosang slowly nods his head. "Ahh, I get it now, that's actually not a bad idea, I'll take you to work with me tomorrow."

Wooyoung widens his eyes "no no! I was just explaining to you what Yunho was trying to tell you yesterday, I wouldn't actually have you do that"

"But why? You could get a new job faster and finally get to pursue your dream"

"I know but" Wooyoung awkwardly runs his hand through his hair, he doesn't want to ask this big of a favour to Yeosang, he's already in debt to him. 

"Wooyoung, thank you for telling me even though you didn't want to." Yeosang gets his attention, trying to convince him to agree to the idea. "I understand you didn't want to because it'd be a lot to ask, or you want to find your own way. But I'm more than willing to let you use the company's name just so you can go out there and do what you want, instead of being all sad at home all day."

Wooyoung pouts, "thank you, but you're already doing so much by letting me stay here and not even pay rent or-"

"I'm more in debt to you by making you pretend date me just because I'm afraid of my mother. Please, you don't have to if you really don't want to but just think about it ok?" Yeosang really wants to do something to help him get something he's wanted for ages, he's already doing so much for him by cooking for him and putting up an act for his mother. "It's worth a try and I'm more than willing to help."

~

Wooyoung eventually gives in which is why he finds himself making breakfast early in the morning before the two head to Yeosang's workplace.

A sleepy Yeosang emerges from the bedroom "what are you doing?"

Wooyoung turns around, surprised. "Oh, I got up a bit earlier to make breakfast, I've seen you just drink coffee for breakfast and I don't know if its because you don't know how to make anything or you're just lazy but its a bad habit so I'm making some actual solid food for you"

Yeosang just blinks sleepily at him and Wooyoung tries not to swoon at his puffy face. The said boy just nods and heads to the bathroom to freshen up, leaving him to carry on in the kitchen. He makes a simple breakfast, rice and egg soup, wanting to go easy on Yeosang since his stomach is used to only coffee for two weeks. 

By the time the other comes back, food is done and Wooyoung is already eating, having left a plate for Yeosang next to him. 

"This is really good, thanks" Yeosang says in between bites. 

"It's just plain rice and plain soup" Wooyoung says, looking at Yeosang who is stuffing his face, he smiles to himself, it makes him feel proud for some reason. 

~

They arrive at Yeosang's workplace and immediately is surrounded by pictures of Yeosang all over the walls, very huge pictures, very huge building too. He looks around, amazed, he's never really been to a big company building like this, he finds it fascinating. 

"I have a shoot now but it shouldn't take long, will you wait around until I finish so I can show you around?" Yeosang seems in a hurry so Wooyoung just nods and Yeosang quickly says "great, I'll meet you here when I'm done" then runs off. 

He walks around the huge building, and wonders where to explore first, there are many floors but he figures he shouldn't go too far because he doesn't want to get lost. Plus, Yeosang will show him around later anyway. 

It's mostly just a bunch of meeting rooms and offices filled with staff, its quite dull but the decor makes it look the opposite. Very modern and stylish, colours from the photos on the wall bring life to the neutral tones of the interior. He takes a seat on a random sofa, looking at the framed photos, they were of random models that worked under the company but a lot of them were Yeosang, the huge ones were certainly only Yeosang. 

He recognises many of the pictures since he went through a lot of them yesterday on his laptop when he remembers his discovery that he's quite attracted to Yeosang's visuals. He quickly looks away from the pictures, which is hard because every way he turns, there's another picture of Yeosang. His parents must love him to fill their building with his pictures. 

He starts walking around again, trying to escape the Yeosangs on the wall staring at him, he warns himself not to be fooled by the good looks. From what he's seen the past two days, Wooyoung isn't a fan of his personality, so he must ignore his pretty face. 

Walking through random corridors, Wooyoung finds some studios. He peers through the door and the rooms are ginormous, there are a few rooms like this, its probably where the models get their photos taken, some sets have props, some are different colours. He sees someone getting their photo taken, multiple cameras, very bright lights and lots of staff behind them. 

He checks the face and its not Yeosang, he wonders where he's doing his shoot, it would be interesting to observe...

As he's quietly opening some more doors and looking into them, there's a tap on his shoulder. Wooyoung quickly turns around to see a random person looking at him, confused. "Who are you?"

He looks nervously at him, he and his coworker behind him have ID cards around their necks, he'd noticed everyone else did too when he was exploring. Wooyoung realises that he probably looks extremely suspicious right now. 

"I uh-" he struggles to explain himself, "I left my ID at home, I'll go back and get it" he decides to lie, giving the man a smile before running away, but he's stopped when he tries to rush past him. 

"How did you get in? You cant enter without swiping your card" the man holds Wooyoung's shoulder, preventing him from moving. "We've had reports of a thief, it must be you. Wow! I'm going to get a raise once they find out I've caught you." He squeezes his shoulder, making him wince. 

Suddenly, Wooyoung's shirt is grabbed and he's pulled forward, being forced to walk wherever he's being taken. "Wait no! Ok I lied I don't work here but I'm not a thief!"

They've gained quite the audience now as people have come out of their offices to see the commotion. "Oh yeah? If you're not a thief what are you? Delivery men aren't allowed to come in this far into the building"

Wooyoung has no idea how to explain that he's here in relation to his job. Heck, even he has no idea why here here. "I swear I'm not the thief!" He tries getting the strong grip off his shirt. 

"If you're not the thief then why are you denying it so aggressively? If you were innocent you'd be more calm wouldn't you"

Wooyoung is getting annoyed at the stubborn man, if he wanted a raise then he should work harder not make an innocent person a criminal. Wooyoung can not be in bad terms with another influential company. 

"Because you just started dragging me without my permission! Of course I'd be aggressive if you're being aggressive too" he manages to get the mans hand off his shirt and begins to run off but he's grabbed by his hair this time. Talk about being professional and workplace etiquette. 

He cries out in surprise as he's forced to walk backward towards the man. "You think I'd believe that? I'm not letting you go that easily"

Wooyoung yelps loudly as his hair is pulled round, making his head move around quickly. He gets dizzy easily and just wants it to stop. "Let me go! I swear I came with Yeosang!" He squeezes his eyes shut, getting a headache. 

The man scoffs, laughing at his coworker and the audience around them. "You hear that? That's a new excuse ain't it? Never heard someone coming in with the younger Kang before. You should have come up with a better excuse, I'm taking this thief to the ceo." He groans as he's pulled away, he thinks about his unlucky fate, whats he supposed to do now? 

"There's no need"

Wooyoung is only moved a step and he opens his eyes to see Yeosang with his arms crossed, looking annoyed. He finches at the sight, he probably hates him now, having caused a ruckus in his workplace. He's most likely going to be kicked out of the apartment too. 

The man seems oblivious to Yeosang's expression, as his smile is cynically wide. "Young Kang, sir, I've found the criminal we've been looki-"

"Let him go" Yeosang abruptly says, gesturing to the hand on Wooyoung's hair. 

The man looks startled at his sharp tone, slowly letting go of his hair, but then grabbing his shoulder instead. 

Yeosang's eyes shoot him daggers and the crowd collectively gulp. The man tries to talk but Yeosang holds a hand up, silencing him. "He's not who you're looking for, he was telling the truth, he did come with me today"

The man's eyes widen, but not letting go of Wooyoung "oh, my apologies-"

"Now" Yeosang interrupts, he doesn't want his empty apologies. He's had staff complain about this guy before and he figures now was the perfect time to fire him. "I'd like it if you took your hand off my boyfriend"

The crowd simultaneously gasp, along with Wooyoung. They know now that this man has lost his job. Once a shaky hand has let go of his hair, Yeosang grabs Wooyoung's wrist and takes him away from the crowd, everyone staring at them in shock and immediately heading back to their offices, gossiping and texting away. 

They are speed walking silently until they're far away from the commotion which took place a minute ago, Wooyoung is still surprised and is being dragged by Yeosang mindlessly. He gets his thoughts back once they stop and Wooyoung immediately speaks. 

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone that far, I completely forgot that I don't-"

"There's nothing you have to be sorry for, are you okay?" Yeosang looks at Wooyoung's head guiltily. If only he had came sooner, he'd forgotten that Wooyoung would look suspicious without an ID. 

Wooyoung just nods, smiling to show that he's okay. "I'm sorry..." Yeosang says, genuinely looking ashamed. "I shouldn't have blurted out that we're dating, it's not supposed to be public. I- I didn't know how else he was going to let you go." his family were the only ones who are supposed to know, its going to be harder to get Wooyoung out of this situation now.

The other just smiles, lifting Yeosang's head so it's not so sad and droopy. "It's fine, you did what you had to, we'll sort out the problem when the time comes, but right now, we're dating." 

He sighs in response, forcing himself to collect his emotions. "Alright, lets just go home, I'll show you around another day." Wooyoung nods and follows him quickly. 

He looks around as they walk "you know, I'm surprised I didn't recognise you when we first met, I've definitely seen these pictures around on billboards and stuff" Wooyoung points at some pictures, attempting to make conversation but Yeosang doesn't seem to be in the mood. He catches up to Yeosang so that he's walking next to him now. "Why do they call you young Kang?"

Yeosang shrugs "CEO Kang is my father, Mr Kang is my older brother so I guess I'm young Kang" he says simply and Wooyoung hums in approval. Makes sense. "Also, you won't see my parents here often, but my brother comes everyday since he's the next CEO." 

As soon as he mentions him, a voice is heard. "Yeosang, I didn't know you had a shoot today"

They turn around, startled at the random voice and Yeosang recognises his brother, standing behind them with a smile. "Hey hyung" 

"I haven't seen you since you moved, you never call" he says with a frown, Yeosang only nods. It's not like they've missed each other, they only see each other at work since they didn't even live together anyway, ever since his brother got married and moved out. 

"Who's this?" Yeosang's brother peers behind him to look at Wooyoung curiously. 

He sighs, more people to reveal Wooyoung too. "This is my boyfriend Jung Wooyoung". 

Wooyoung waves and displays his bright smile, after being the one telling people that Yeosang is his boyfriend, it felt good to finally be introduced as the boyfriend this time... even though this whole thing is fake. 

Yeosang's brother nods in understanding, knowing how crazy their mother is about marriage. "its nice to see you've finally found one, he's just your type as well" 

Surprised at the older's words, Wooyoung looks at Yeosang, who looks horrified. "Wh-"

"Anyway I'm getting late for my meeting, see you later"

Yeosang lets out a quick bye before quickly walking again, not wanting Wooyoung to see his embarrassing blush. The other has to jog to keep up with him, smiling knowingly. "So... I'm your type?"

"Shut up" Yeosang snaps, but Wooyoung just laughs, he seems tired from his shoot so he decides to cook a nice lunch when they get back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No one:
> 
> Wooyoung: Yes I do the cooking, yes I do the cleaning


	6. 6

"Hi hyung thanks for coming... were you busy?" Yeosang had called Hongjoong to show him how to use the washing machine, Wooyoung had been doing both of their laundry this whole time and he felt bad so he wants to learn so he can do his own. However, Hongjoong walks into his house, looking all over the place. 

"Me? Oh no I wasn't busy" Hongjoong shakes his head but Yeosang can see he looks a bit restless. 

"Were you working? You can came back later if you want, I'm sorry, its nothing important" Yeosang feels like he's interrupted something. He would have asked Wooyoung but he's out with Yunho and San. 

Hongjoong still shakes his head "don't be sorry, I was working on something but I could use a break, you know I’ll come whenever you need me." He reassures Yeosang with a smile and they start with the life skills lesson. 

"What are you working on?" Yeosang asks as they load the washer. "Actually, now that I think about it, I have no idea what you work as, I've seen you go to work but I've never asked what it is that you do".

Hongjoong smiles, and Yeosang notices the smile doesn't quite reach his eyes. "It's complicated, the jobs you see me go to are just part time jobs. My dream is to become a fashion designer, but it's proving to be pretty difficult, its hard to be recognised or to even find the right job."

Yeosang hums in agreement, he is aware of how difficult the fashion industry is, even though it may show itself as a career that lets you express your individuality, its almost impossible to become successful with your individuality. The higher in the field you go, the more individuality you lose as you're expected to just follow whats popular in order to really become successful. 

In this way, Yeosang definitely recognises his privilege in being an upper class citizen, he's never had any problems doing what he wants and even then, he never really knows what he wats, he just does as he's told. Then there's people like Hongjoong who has a genuine passion for something but has to make life changing decisions and take risks for that thing just because he has less connections but may have better experience or knowledge. 

"I'm working on some fashion pieces to enter in a competition held by this company. It's my absolute dream to work there and getting into the competition is the first step to living my dream life." Hongjoong pauses for a moment, his smile reaching his eyes this time. Yeosang admires how his face lights up with just the mention of his passion. 

"What is your dream life?" Yeosang asks and Hongjoong looks at him with an even brighter smile, bu this time with determination in he's eyes. 

"I want to be a designer for Mars Couture, they've been my dream destination ever since I got into fashion. I want to win the competition, get the internship, wow everyone with my skills and climb the ladder of success." 

Yeosang lets out a sound of approval, his confidence is admirable, with that attitude, Yeosang thinks Hongjoong will be able to do anything. "Wow hyung! That's great, I'll be rooting for you! I hope you can enter the competi-"

He suddenly realises that Hongjoong is talking about Mars Couture, he had been so mesmerised as Hongjoong's life plans that he hadn't realised that he could help his hyung. "Hyung! I know someone who works at Mars Couture, I can get them to help you!"

He grabs his shoulders, determined to help his hyung who has been nothing but kind to him. If he can give up his precious time for Yeosang when he could be working towards his dream life, Yeosang could help him when he has the perfect opportunity. 

Hongjoong looks at him, he's surprised at first but then remembers Yeosang is a model and Mars Couture probably sends him clothes all the time for him to model. "Ah- really? Oh I wouldn't want you to do all that for me."

"What are you talking about, its no big deal! They can give you pointers or just take a look at your pieces before you submit them, think of it as networking! If you don't want help its totally fine too, I'm happy to help though!" Yeosang says enthusiastically, hoping Hongjoong will accept his help. 

He completely understands that it may feel like cheating, getting someone from the company to actually look at Hongjoong's designs, but they're only going to give a bit of help. 

He doesn't know what kind of person Hongjoong is yet, about accepting help or wanting to do it himself so Yeosang prepares himself for acceptance and rejection. 

"Um, I guess I'd appreciate the help, it would definitely relieve some of the stress I've been feeling lately." Hongjoong says slowly but Yeosang is already clapping, happy he can help him instead of the other way around. 

"That's great! He's coming in 5 minutes"

Hongjoong widens his eyes, "what? You didn't have to get them straight away, I'm in no rush-" he hadn't expected to see them today, some of his pieces aren't even finished yet.

"Don't worry I didn't call him now, he was always going to come, this is just a perfectly timed coincidence. And instead of hanging out with me, he can help you out today" Yeosang says, but then frowns "...unless you're not ready, he can always come another day" Yeosang doesn't want to scare Hongjoong off, they can go at his pace. 

Hongjoong pauses for a minute, there's no harm in showing this person what he has now, he just wants some advice and opinions, not to actually get into the competition by meeting someone for the company, he'd feel too guilty. "It's ok, I'd like to see them today"

Yeosang nods, he feels selfish for thinking this way because he knows millions of people have much harder lives than him and to some extent even Hongjoong, but he feels sad thinking about his hyung going to multiple part time jobs instead of actually working in the field he wants to, he just wants to make it easier for him. He can’t help everyone, but he'll help who he can, like yesterday which he sort of failed in helping Wooyoung but he'll try again. 

It doesn't take long before they hear knocking on the door. Yeosang opens the door to reveal Seonghwa and Hongjoong widens his eyes, of course. 

How did he not put the pieces together? Yeosang and Seonghwa are best friends, both are rich, both families own huge companies. Well, he's not sure about Seonghwa just working in the company or his family owning it but-

"Hyung, you've met Seonghwa hyung once before right? His family own Mars Couture, they've been working with my family's company for as long as I can remember." Yeosang introduces him with a happy smile. 

Hongjoong gulps, ok he does own the company. He looks up at the man, he's not that much taller than him but he's still slightly intimidated and lets out a shy "hi," not knowing what else to say but thankfully Yeosang speaks again. 

"Hyung" he turns to Seonghwa "Hongjoong hyung wants to enter your competition!" The older looks surprised at the sudden exclamation, Yeosang had only told him to quickly come because he had a job for him. 

Yeosang turns to Hongjoong "Seonghwa hyung is in charge of the competition, he does everything, from organising the events to choosing the winners" 

Hongjoong's face goes red. Now it really feels like cheating "oh- I didn't know the person coming to help me was the actual organiser!" He whispers to Yeosang, who's face drops. 

"Oh yeah..." he frowns "that does sound suspicious, I mean if you're not comfortable with it anymore, you don't have to get help."

Hongjoong looks at the dejected expression on his younger friend's face, he knows that Yeosang wants to help, not like a charity case or anything, but genuinely wants to support his dream. And he's happy to accept support, anyway, its not like Seonghwa actually knows Hongjoong so there wont be any bias, which makes him feel less like a cheater. 

"Actually, I'm happy to get some opinions on my work, from a professional." Hongjoong looks at Seonghwa, who eyes him curiously. 

Yeosang silently cheers, pushing the two out of his home, "Great! Now you two go and do some mentor mentee things and I'll go do my laundry." 

The door slams shut and the two stay unmoving just looking at each other awkwardly, that is, until Hongjoong realises that he's supposed to lead Seonghwa to his apartment. "Oh! Sorry, its this way" he says, moving a few steps to his door then unlocking it. 

He wishes he had cleaned the house before but in his defence he didn't know he'd have a guest today, let alone the guest being someone from his dream company. "Sorry about the mess..." he has the excuse of being busy and unmotivated to clean up but he still cringes at the sight of random pieces of fabric everywhere, different sketchbooks lying around, accompanied by crumpled up pieces of paper. 

"It's okay, I see you've been busy" Seonghwa says, actually speaking for the first time. "So, you want to enter our competition?" He looks around the living room, he sees a mannequin dressed in a stylish jacket and something on the sewing machine, it looks interesting. 

"Yeah, I just wanted you to take a look and see if its ok, maybe some tips?" Hongjoong says hesitantly. 

Seonghwa hums, when Yeosang told him he had a job for him to do, he wasn't expecting this, he's never mentored anyone before, the people he worked with usually knew what they were doing and don't need training, but from what he can see around anyway, he can tell that Hongjoong knows what he's doing. "Ok, show me what you've got."

He's led to a pile of clothes on the floor, accompanied by a sketchbook which Hongjoong nervously opens. He points to the pile of clothes "these are what I'm planning to submit as a portfolio but I'm not quite finished them yet. Here's what the end results should look like" Seonghwa is handed the sketchbook and is immediately impressed. 

The designs are definitely things he's seen before, as practically living in the fashion industry means that he's seen everything. But something about it intrigues him, not knowing how to describe what he sees but they certainly have a different flair. 

He instantly knows that Hongjoong is the type of designer who can make a plain, boring piece come to life without much effort. 

Hongjoong watches the other as he flips through the book, heart leaping at some hums of approval and nods. Seonghwa closes the book abruptly, which makes him flinch in surprise. 

"I can get you into the competition without you haven't to apply first, if you want." Seonghwa states, expression unreadable. 

Hongjoong just stares blankly at him. Then frowns "I only accepted your help for opinions or tips, I don't want to get in with connections." This was a mistake, Hongjoong should not have let the actual competition organiser see his work. 

He realises that, that's how life is when you're rich and have connections, you can get anything you want. Just how Seonghwa is offering to get him in the competition without applying. 

It's unfair and Hongjoong hates it, he realises that Seonghwa is just another rich guy who's had it easy his whole life, never having to work for anything. "I want to get in with my talent. If you think that these pieces aren't going to get me into the competition then forget it, I'll just work harder and make new ones, I can sacrifice more sleep for this" he tells him bitterly. 

Seonghwa just chuckles at the others annoyed tone. "Oh don't worry, you'll get in with this, its very impressive, I just wanted to help out a bit because I'm sure you know that the competition is very high."

Hongjoong scoffs "that's my problem not yours"

He gets a shrug in response, its true, it's not Seonghwa's problem. A/N: cue johnny ‘not my problem’

Seonghwa turns to Hongjoong, looking at him but not saying anything which makes the other uncomfortable under the gaze but suddenly, he's picking up one of the jackets off the pile of clothes and hands it to Hongjoong. "Can I see how it looks on you?"

Hongjoong freezes for a second before shaking his head then nodding "uh sure, I'll put it on" he's unsure why Seonghwa wants to see the jacket on him, maybe to see how well he can make clothes, or maybe he's just curious. 

Seonghwa eyes the jacket which is now worn on the man in front of him. He'd seen the drawing in the sketchbook, then the piece of clothing in his hands and now actually on someone. It looks great he thinks, this man has potential. He puts a hand on his chin as he peers curiously at the piece from afar and Hongjoong feels awkward just standing there, looking at Seonghwa looking at him. 

He's done a great job visualising the design on paper and creating it, giving it justice. Seonghwa takes a step towards Hongjoong, reaching out a hand to feel the jacket, but hesitates "can I feel it?" He looks straight into his eyes, making the shorter of the two gulp. "Um sure" he squeaks out, extending his arm. 

Seonghwa gently grabs the sleeve that Hongjoong offers, examining the stitching and the wonderful designs. "Are you proud of this?" He asks, not looking up and instead deciding to keep his eyes on the sleeve, to not intimidate him. 

"Y- yeah. I'm proud of this" Hongjoong says, trying his best to be confident but its hard when he's in such close proximity with Seonghwa. The said man stands up straight and they realise they're standing a bit too close. Neither move. 

He offers a soft smile "good. You should be proud of this, and everything else, your work is wonderful." 

The compliments make him feel shy and not want to show the other his work anymore but Seonghwa is already walking away from him, grabbing his sketchbook and opening it again, flipping through some other designs "Hongjoong-ssi whats your surname" he says, not looking up from the book. 

His question earns a strange look from Hongjoong "why"

"No reason, just in case I see you on the list of people who have been accepted into our competition, although..." he examines the others face curiously "I've never heard of the name Hongjoong, its quite rare so I'm sure it'll be you if I see a Hongjoong there anyway" 

The said man raises his eyebrows "what? You want to make sure I got in because I'm Yeosang's neighbour and he'll be sad if I don't get in?" 

He cant help but downgrade himself even though Seonghwa has told him many times that his designs are actually good. He feels guilty when he sees Seonghwa frown. 

"Of course not, also Yeosang isn't someone who uses his connections like that, don't misunderstand his good intentions to help you" 

Seonghwa defends his friend and Hongjoong feels like he's being told off. He's right, he can tell Yeosang wouldn't do something like that and he doesn't know why he’s being moody today. 

"I'm telling you this now so you don't misunderstand. Yeosang asked me to give you tips but honestly, what you've shown me is beyond amazing, so don't be surprised when you find out that you've been accepted."

People often think when someone is expressing their individuality through fashion, its loud and colourful and all over the place, which sometimes it is. But Hongjoong has intricate designs which look simple but you can tell its its bursting with passion. It's just what they're looking for from the competition.

Hongjoong manages to show a small smile, he's practically guaranteed a spot in the competition now so he can relax a bit. "Just make sure to send in what you've shown me, its not just me looking at applicants, its a whole team and I don’t even see most of them, so don't feel guilty because I know whoever's going to see your work will love it." 

He hands the sketchbook to Hongjoong with a smile and looks at the pile of clothes on the floor. For the application, you're only supposed to show a portfolio of drawings of designs and one actual sewed one. But from what he can see, Hongjoong has made all the designs in the book. He admires his hard work, working part time jobs then trying to pursue your passion. 

"Thank you, I mean for the compliments... I thought you'd be more harsh, I don't know if its because I'm Yeosang's-"

"Stop talking about that, don't worry, pretend Yeosang doesn't exist and neither of us know him. All this time, what I've said to you has been without bias, ok? I mean it, you would have gotten in even if I hadn't come seen you today, your hard work will be rewarded."

Hongjoong tries to accept the compliment but he cant. He's not the only one who has worked hard, what about the other's who's application have been rejected, how will they be rewarded. What if they deserve it, or need it more than he did?

"I can literally hear your brain ticking, try not to think about this so vehemently. Take a break, distract yourself for a bit" Seonghwa waves his hand in front of Hongjoong's face but the man remains unmoving. 

He sighs, Hongjoong is a strange man he thinks. "Ok. I'll leave you to do whatever you want, don't listen to me then" 

He decides to let himself out since he's got no idea what's wrong with the other, until he finally speaks "Kim"

Seonghwa had only taken a few steps away from Hongjoong when he decides to speak. "Huh?"

Hongjoong turns to face him "Kim Hongjoong, my full name. I hope to see it on the list of accepted applicants, thank you for your help."

He chuckles at the other "well then, Kim Hongjoong, I look forward to giving you good news next week" his smile is sincere and Hongjoong gulps. 

As soon as the door shuts, Hongjoong lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Then it registers in his brain what just happened, he's in. The first step of his dream life is done, he got in. 

He jumps around, silently screaming in joy and happily singing a song. He feels giddy as if he's in a sugar rush, he's so ready to finally live his dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~ hehe the tension between seongjoong
> 
> Also the fact that they have   
> ceo x working class guy with multiple part time jobs  
> kdrama cliche vibe is a coincidence I swear I didn't plagiarise anything.


	7. 7

Yeosang is unwrapping some suits from its packaging which he had ordered a few days before, Wooyoung is shaking his head in front of him. 

"Why didn't you just bring your clothes from your old home? If you'd done that then you wouldn't be in this situation right now!" Wooyoung has been nagging him about this for hours. Yeosang looks up at him from the floor, he's standing in front of him with his arms crossed. 

He sighs. "I didn't know we have to go to one of my mothers networking events, also I'll just buy new clothes why do I have to take them from my old house?"

Wooyoung scoffs at him, oh yeah because everyone can just buy a whole new wardrobe every time they move out. 

Yeosang stands "also, I bought you one too" he looks him up and down "you look about the same size as me hopefully it'll fit" Wooyoung is handed an expensive looking suit. 

"I have suits you know..." he pouts, Yeosang didn't have to buy him such an expensive looking one, he feels like a charity case. 

"I know but look" Yeosang shows him another suit, smiling widely. "They match!"

Wooyoung's stomach may be doing flips right now just looking at their matching suits. "You got us couple outfits?"

Yeosang's smile drops, feeling a bit embarrassed "well I thought it would look more convincing" he rubs the back of his head then walks out with his outfit. "Put it on! We don't have much time left"

Wooyoung watches the door slam and he laughs in disbelief, looking at the suit. “What have I gotten himself into”. 

When he exits the room, he sees that Yeosang has already changed, and is waiting for him to come out. However, it seems as though he hasn't realised yet that he's done because he's just leaning on the arm rest of the sofa while looking out the window. Wooyoung examines the man from afar, his sharp jawline on display and the suit fitting wonderfully on just the right places. He stops himself checking the other out and coughs awkwardly. 

Yeosang abruptly turns to look at Wooyoung with a small smile "it fits thank goodness" he says, walking towards him. Wooyoung has lived here for a grand total of a week and a half and this is the most dressed up he's seen Yeosang, which makes him feel intimidated because you know, he's a model. 

"You look great" Yeosang says, eyeing Wooyoung, who goes red at the compliment. "Our outfits match nicely don't they". For someone who seemed to be dreading this event, Wooyoung thinks Yeosang looks excited. 

Yeosang does get excited for the dressing up, but once he's at an event that excitement disappears. And with the situation he's in right now, he knows this one will be the most stressful of them all. He needs to be prepared well for this night to go successfully. 

"Ok," Yeosang says, face turning serious. "We need to lay out some ground rules and plan well so meeting my mother goes smoothly, she gets suspicious very easily and nothing goes through her so we need to convince her that we're committed to this relationship."

His tone is stern and Wooyoung nods in understanding "Ok, the most obvious way to show a relationship, physical affection. Where do you draw the line?" He asks Yeosang, who doesn't hesitate for even a second. 

"Holding hands." He says straightforwardly. 

Wooyoung raises his eyebrows "uh- you draw the line at holing hands?" Is he being serious, Wooyoung looks at Yeosang's straight face and it seems as though he is in fact being very serious. "What else is there to do, link arms?" 

Yeosang nods, satisfied. "I'm good with linking arms"

He almost smacks his forehead in frustration "Yeosang, I completely understand if you draw the line with kissing or something but holing hands? You said your mum is very thorough with things and can tell whenever someone is lying. Will she believe you're in a happy, long lasting relationship if you're not even holding hands with your boyfriend?"

He tries talking sense into Yeosang because he believes this wont work if they're 2 feet apart the whole time. But Yeosang genuinely looks conflicted at his words. Wooyoung sighs "I'm sorry, I wont force you to hold hands if you don't want to, physical affection isn't the only type of affection. You're good with words! You can-"

"No, its okay. You're right, it would look suspicious if we're not even holding hands." Yeosang frowns "I'm sorry, I don't know why I don't even-"

"Hey" Wooyoung smiles "its okay, don't force yourself. This is about you, not me. Do what your comfortable with" 

Yeosang looks at him with glassy eyes and lets out a shaky breath. He looks down, not wanting to look at him anymore "thank you" he says, biting his lip, this is the first time (apart from Seonghwa) that someone has put Yeosang's feelings first, even over something as trivial as holding hands. 

"I think I'm okay with holding your hand." He says, finally looking at the other who smiles widely at him. 

"Okay, do you want me to hold it or do you want to hold mine" he asks, it may seem pointless to ask but initiating contact can be just as difficult as a accepting it. Yeosang appreciates it so much. 

"I'll hold yours" he says and Wooyoung holds out his hand, ready for him to hold it and when Yeosang grabs it limply, he lets go, earning a look of confusion from Yeosang. 

"Like this" he says gently and aligns their hands together, slowly intertwining their fingers in a firm hold. "Is this okay?" Wooyoung asks, looking at their joined hands and Yeosang nods "yeah, it is."

~

They let their hands fall to their sides and they head out where a fancy car is waiting for them. "We have to show up in this car because we're with the ceos, this is Ms. Im, she used to be my personal driver until I left" he explains to Wooyoung who just nods, distracted by the car.

Now arrived at a grand building, Wooyoung nervously follows Yeosang out of the car. The latter immediately grabs his hand, linking their fingers together, Yeosang must be as nervous as he is because he's gripping him a bit too hard to be comfortable. "That's my mother over there in blue, smile." Yeosang whispers, pointing to a tall lady and he puts on a wide smile. He can do this, he's good at socialising. 

They walk up to her, Yeosang being a step faster and Wooyoung feels like he's being dragged. "Yeosang honey! Oh you must be Wooyoung!"

The woman displays a set of pearly teeth with a bright smile, shaking Wooyoung's hand. She looks much younger than her age, he wouldn't believe she has two grown sons. "Oh you're so handsome, Yeosang he's just your type!" 

Wooyoung just blushes and laughs a little, this is the second time someone has said this, he glances at Yeosang who looks embarrassed while telling his mother to stop talking. She doesn't listen and bombards them with questions and Wooyoung answers them confidently, they're simple questions like how they met, easy to make up and keep simple. 

"Yeosang you did well with this one, I approve!" She pinches Wooyoung's cheeks "you're so likeable! How did Yeosang manage to find you?" She leans in and whispers to him "he's not very sociable."

Wooyoung just chuckles, glancing at Yeosang's upset frown and takes his hand. "Yeosang is actually amazing to be around, I'm the one who was lucky enough to find him." He squeezes their hands. 

Yeosang's mother slowly nods her head "I see, well you two look great together! I can tell you'll be together for a long time" She looks at Yeosang "I hope" she looks at him expectantly making him nervous. 

Luckily, the other notices Yeosang's uneasiness and hesitation to speak. "Thank you mrs Kang, I plan to be with Yeosang for a long time"

"That's wonderful to hear, I'm glad you like Yeosang that much!" She says and Yeosang feels shitty about himself. His own mother thinks that loving him the most difficult thing, and whoever does needs a reward. "And please, call me mother, we're family now!" Yep, the reward. 

Wooyoung doesn't get to respond before she's leaving, greeting another person and happily chatting with them. He turns to his roommate who looks unwell. "Hey are you okay?" He examines his face, frowning. "Do you want to go now? We've met your mother so we can go if you want?"

Yeosang just shakes his head and stands in front of him to face him. He walks close to him so he can rest his forehead on Wooyoung's shoulder "I'm sorry, I just need a minute"

Wooyoung freezes for a second, debating whether he should hug him or not. He decides to pat his head "its okay, its done now." Yeosang stays unmoving, resting on his shoulder for a bit before he straightens himself. "I'm sorry if my mother was a bit blunt, she doesn't have the ability to keep to herself." Or not put down people for the sake of entertaining others he thinks. 

"It's not your fault don't worry, I can handle it" Wooyoung reassures him, patting his head one last time, making the other pout. 

Around them are many people, mostly just occupied in their own conversations but Wooyoung notices someone staring directly at them. He nudges Yeosang and motions at the man "who's that?"

When Yeosang looks at the man, he takes it as an invitation to walk over to them with a lopsided smile. "Hello young Kang"

"Mr Choi, how are you" Yeosang says with a tight smile. "Do you need anything?"

The man chuckles. "I've just never seen you come to these events with someone, would you like to introduce me?"

No. I don't Yeosang doesn't like this man and he is being annoying, clearly not taking a hint when he grimaces at him. "Meet my boyfriend Jung Wooyoung, Wooyoung this is mr Choi manager of Crush, we often hire crush for my shoots."

The man peers at Wooyoung as he smiles awkwardly in greeting. "Jung Wooyoung? Are you by any chance a reporter... no that wouldn't make sense, why would young Kang date a reporter"

The pair look at each other in confusion "I am a reporter" Wooyoung says, frowning, wondering why it matters. 

He is given a skeptical look from the man "I know you, you're the one who tried taking our company down!" He exclaims and Wooyoung shakes his head. 

"No that was a mistake, I've already faced the consequences I know I was wrong, I'm not trying to take your company down!" Wooyoung couldn't believe the nerve of this man, why is he trying to pick a fight when crush had already let him off. 

"So now you're dating the young Kang coincidentally?" He says, sneering at him. 

Yeosang scoffs at the man. "You think my boyfriend is a spy? That he's using me for insider content?" 

He nods, not understanding why Yeosang is angry at him and not Wooyoung. "It's none of your business who I date and I think I'd know if my boyfriend was using me, now if you'll excuse me"

He grabs Wooyoung's hand and pulls him away from the man, leaving him staring at them shocked as he watches them exiting the building. Wooyoung lets Yeosang lead him to the frond garden of the place, there are still people there but not as many as there are inside, he appreciates the fresh air anyway. 

"Sorry" Yeosang says and Wooyoung just tuts. "Don't be sorry about everyone we meet, people are like that, its okay." Yeosang wants to argue, its not okay. But he's too tired after barely even talking two people. 

They take a seat on a bench, in a comfortable silence where there is a nice wide gap between them. Yeosang wonders where Seonghwa is, he'd already said he's not going because he's busy but he wishes he had forced him to come too, now he's just sitting here not knowing what to talk about. 

Thankfully, someone calls him. "Hello little brother" Yeosang looks up to see his hyung walking over to them. 

"Hey hyung, aren't you supposed to be talking to the guests right now?" Since he's the heir to the company, his hyung is always busy, especially in these kind of events. But he gets a nope in response. 

"Ive talked to who I needed to, I just wanted some fresh air, hello Wooyoung" he turns to the other man on the bench, offering a smile, getting an awkward wave in response. 

"So, Wooyoung... I'm curious as to how you managed to get Yeosang to date you, I know how anti-dating he is"

Yeosang's brother's stare pierces through as he uncomfortably looks at Yeosang, not knowing what to say but before he can respond, the older man is speaking again. 

"How did a random person like you lure Yeosang into your life? Is your dream to be rich, have an easy life? My brother is quite famous you know, did you want-"

"Hyung stop talking right now." Wooyoung is shocked at the brother's words, he'd expected it from random people but how could Yeosang's on brother think like that, does anyone even trust Yeosang? 

The said man has is gritting his teeth, face red as he speaks to his brother. "Why does everyone think Wooyoung has brainwashed me, does everyone think so little of me?" He says, trying not to raise his voice too much. "I was the one who asked Wooyoung to date me, ME. I liked him first so I confessed first. Him being a reporter has nothing to do with this, I'm not a child. Wooyoung didn't lure me into some plan to steal my money, I asked him out first." 

He grabs Wooyoung's hand and marches off. This is the second time tonight that he's had to do this and Wooyoung hopes that he's not too angry. 

He doesn't dare to look at Yeosang's face, not wanting to see him upset like this, he doesn't really know how to comfort someone well anyway so he lets him drag him home. 

~

Barely half an hour after arriving home, a knock is heard on their door. Wooyoung quickly gets up to open it but Yeosang is already hurting past him to get the door. 

Yeosang opens the door to reveal Hongjoong and Seonghwa, looking at each other confused.

"What are you doing here?" Seonghwa asks Hongjoong, ignoring the fact that the door is open for them to come in. 

"Wooyoung asked me to come, what are you doing here?" Hongjoong replies and Yeosang turns to Wooyoung. 

"You called Hongjoong hyung here?"He asks and Wooyoung nods. 

"Yeosang asked me to come" Seonghwa says pointedly and Wooyoung glances at Yeosang. 

"You called Seonghwa hyung here too?" He asks him, earning a simple nod in response. 

The four look at each other for a moment before Wooyoung snaps out of his daze and lets the two inside. 

They separate into their respective pairs, Yeosang chatting and complaining to Seonghwa about today. His mood seems to have gone immediately better now that Seonghwa is here and Wooyoung sighs in relief, glad he doesn't have to try and cheer the other up. 

He and Hongjoong play video games for a bit, he had called him over for Yeosang, to cheer him up but Yeosang had already called Seonghwa so now he could hang out with Hongjoong, with whom he hadn't hung out with since before he moved. 

The atmosphere with him and Hongjoong sitting on the floor playing games and Yeosang and Seonghwa on the sofa chatting on their own makes Wooyoung happy, it's feels overwhelmingly like home for some reason, even though two of the people in his home were strangers a couple of weeks ago.

"Kim Hongjoong" 

Hongjoong looks back from his game to look at Seonghwa who had called him, giving him a confused look. "Did you receive good news today?" He smiles at him, knowingly. 

Wooyoung looks at Hongjoong, then Seonghwa then back to Hongjoong, puzzled at this interaction. 

"What good news” he asks but Hongjoong doesn’t even glance at him. “Hyung what's he talking about?" He presses, shaking Hongjoong's shoulder. 

"Ah... I got into that competition I was telling you about"

Wooyoung gasps, he's heard Hongjoong go on for ages about this competition and working in his dream job. "Wow! The one from Mars couture? That's great" he hugs him, then pauses "but... how does Seonghwa hyung know about this?"

Hongjoong laughs nervously "Seonghwa actually is the one who runs the competition, he's the son of the company's ceo". 

Wooyoung whips his head to face Seonghwa, who looks surprised. "Really? You- you're the son of Mars couture?" 

The other gulps nervously "yeah" 

The younger's mind is working, putting pieces together "don't tell me... you accepted Hongjoong because you know him?"

Hongjoong pouts, glaring at Seonghwa. "I told you not to do that"

"I- I didn't I swear!" Seonghwa quickly stands to defend himself, the other two are talking too quickly and assuming things. "I really didn't know if Hongjoong got in or not, that's why I asked, I was given different applicants to go through and I didn't see Hongjoong's name, I really didn't know" Seonghwa pleads, slightly intimidated by Wooyoung's glare. 

Fortunately, the youngers face lights up as he turns to Hongjoong again. "hyung, this is amazing! It's your dream to work there"

The other nods with a smile, a little embarrassed that Seonghwa knows that he's desperate to work at his family's company. 

A few hours after playing more games with Hongjoong, Wooyoung yawns as he stretches. He looks back to see Yeosang on his phone with Seonghwa asleep on his shoulder. 

Yeosang looks up to see Wooyoung yawning "oh right it's quite late" he taps Seonghwa's head in an attempt to wake him up. "Hyung, let's go to my bed, you can't sleep here, this is where Wooyoung sleeps"

Seonghwa shoots his head up "I'm up" he says and hastily stands up, stumbling slightly because of his sleepiness. 

Yeosang hold his arm to help him balance "come, you can stay over tonight, it's too late to drive home now". 

He tries to take him to his room but Seonghwa suddenly stops. "It's fine, I can go home"

Wooyoung watches the push and pull Yeosang and Seonghwa are doing and huffs. "Hyung what are you talking about, you're half asleep and you want to drive home? Just sleep in Yeosang's room"

Seonghwa shakes his head "Yeosang has a single bed, there's no space and I've driven home tired before, there's no reason I can't now"

"Hyung!" Yeosang tuts. "You live almost an hour away and I can see you struggling to keep your eyes open, you're going to get in an accident if you drive now". 

"You could sleep on the sofa bed if you want? I don't mind sleeping on the floor" Wooyoung suggests. 

Seonghwa shakes his head again, "I don't want to be a bother, really I'll just call a cab if I'm too tired to drive". 

"Hyung you're not a bother, you'd be a bother if you died!" Yeosang says, begging him to stay. 

"I won't die Yeosang, I'll just call a cab if you're so worried, ok?" He asks the latter who sighs in defeat. "Fine". 

"Um- I'll get going now too then" Hongjoong says, having been waiting for the little argument to die down. 

The roommates bid the two Hyungs goodbye and once the door is closed, Yeosang storms off to his room. Wooyoung watches him go and sighs, opening his bed and going to sleep. 

Outside of the door, Hongjoong walks to his home, only being a couple of steps next to Yeosang's. He stops to get his keys out when Seonghwa bumps into him from behind. 

"Sorry" he says when Hongjoong turns around. He looks like he's about to fall asleep on the ground, he's definitely not fit to drive himself home or even get a cab, if he even finds one at this time at night. 

He watches Seonghwa walk past him, bumping into a wall then muttering an apology to it and Hongjoong sighs in frustration. "Seonghwa!"

He musters up the courage to quickly walk up to him before he falls down the stairs, and grabs his arm. 

"Stay over at my place" 

Seonghwa blinks slowly, catching up with what Hongjoong had said. When it registers in his head, he wakes up a tiny bit. "What."

Hongjoong bites his lip hesitantly. "You can sleep on my couch or something, please you might hurt yourself getting home". 

Seonghwa considers it and if he was a bit more awake, he might have rejected the offer, but god was he sleepy. 

The small nod is the only approval he needs as he pulls Seonghwa to his apartment, leading him in. The other tiredly looks around the familiar place, he'd only been here a week ago. 

Hongjoong brings him to the couch and asks if he'll need anything. "I'm fine, I'm going to sleep within a minute anyway. Thank you Hongjoong". Seonghwa says, voice slurred, indicating that he's already falling asleep. 

Hongjoong nods, heading to his room to find a blanket and when he comes back, Seonghwa is already dead asleep. He sighs as he looks at the other asleep while sitting down, head bent in an awkward position. 

"You should've at least lied down you fool" Hongjoong mutters, gently lifting Seonghwa's legs and placing his head under a cushion so that he's lying down. He spreads the blanket over him, careful not to wake him up. 

The sight of Seonghwa asleep makes his stomach flutter and he resists the urge to stroke his cheek, running to his room in embarrassment for staring too long.


	8. 8

Hongjoong is still drowsy when he gets up in the morning, but his sleep is instantly gone when he walks to the living room to see Seonghwa putting his shoes on. He had completely forgotten that he's at his house. 

"Wait- aren't you going to have breakfast and go?"

Seonghwa shakes his head, quickly tying his laces. "I'm running late, I'll pick up something to eat on the way or something". 

Hongjoong nods awkwardly as he watches the other pull the door open and quickly head out, he follows him out the door. 

The latter suddenly stops and turns around to face him. "Thank you Hongjoong, really. I knew I was too tired last night but I was stubborn, thanks for convincing me". 

Hongjoong offers a smile "it's no problem, you can stay over any time-". He mentally hits his head, that came out wrong. 

Luckily Seonghwa doesn't notice or chooses not to. "Please keep this a secret, don't tell Yeosang" 

Hongjoong doesn't question the strange request and just nods, watching the other run off to work. As he turns to head back in, he sees Yeosang looking at him, confused. 

"Did I just see Seonghwa hyung?" He questions out loud, more to himself rather than Hongjoong. 

The older looks at Yeosang, who is holding a trash bag, he must have gone to take out the trash and saw them. 

"Uh... yeah he stayed over" Hongjoong figures there's no point lying when he literally saw Seonghwa, oops. 

Yeosang widens his eyes. "Really? Thank god. How did you convince him to stay?"

He shrugs. "I just suggested it and he agreed"

Yeosang sighs in relief "thank you thank you hyung. I know it might have been uncomfortable with a stranger in your house but thank you." He pulls Hongjoong into a tight hug. "I was really worried about Seonghwa hyung last night." Hongjoong hums and pats Yeosang's back, he was worried too. Only a bit. Maybe. 

~

"Yeosang, do you know this number?"

Wooyoung shoves his phone into his face, which displays an unsaved number and a strange message. 

+82 XX-XXXX-XXXX  
Jung Wooyoung, please meet me at this cafe today an hour from now. It's urgent. Please. 

Yeosang looks at the number, it's not his mother's, or anyone he knows. "I have no idea" he says with a frown. 

Wooyoung scans the message, he's always skeptical of these kind of things, who knows what would happen if he goes. "Should I go?"

The other glares at him "of course not. Just ignore it". 

He sighs, the sender had said please twice and it made him feel bad if he stood them up, it really does seem urgent and Wooyoung honestly has nothing better to do. 

With a final nod, he gets himself ready to go. 

As he opens the door to leave, he's held back by a hand pulling him away. "Ow- Yeosang what are you doing"

"I told you to ignore that text, why are you going to meet a stranger?" 

Wooyoung listens to Yeosang scolding him like a parent. "I'm just curious, this person seems genuine"

"How can you tell someone's genuine through one sentence!"

He shrugs, its true. But something in his gut is telling him to go, and hoping it's not a murderer. "Are you worried about me" Wooyoung says with a bright smile. 

Yeosang rolls his eyes "what a stupid question, even if a stranger showed me a random text and asked me if they should go I'd still say no, I'm just saying this is a bad idea."

The smile is replaced with a pout as Wooyoung sighs. "No need to be so rude. Just say you think I'm dumb and go. I'm going"

Yeosang panics as the other storms off and he quickly stops him again, grabbing his arm. "Wait! I'm sorry, I am worried of course" he frowns, finding it difficult to admit it and Wooyoung melts, he's too soft hearted to be mad at anyone. "It's okay" he pats his shoulder. 

"Be cautious ok? Even if something feels a little off just leave, ok?" Wooyoung stares into Yeosang's pleading eyes, getting lost in the eye contact for a second, then nods. "I will, don't worry, see you".

~

The cafe is in a popular area, meaning that the streets are crowded and full of life, which reassures Wooyoung that at least if he gets kidnapped, many will notice. Looking around the half empty store for anyone sitting alone, he doesn't know what kind of person he's expecting, a thug? A blind date? His old boss? 

He almost missed the man sitting at the back of the cafe, alone and looking around, as if waiting for someone. They make eye contact and Wooyoung gathers the courage to walk up to him. 

He clears his throat, trying not to sound nervous "are you the one who sent me the text?"

Despite him not wanting to look nervous, the other man seems to not care as he looks intimidated by Wooyoung, bouncing his leg rapidly "yes, sorry if it sounded suspicious, thank you for coming".

Wooyoung frowns, he recognises his voice from somewhere, sitting down as he tries to remember the very unique voice. 

The other man fortunately doesn't keep him waiting and gets to the point. "I'm the one who tipped you about crush a few months ago". 

He widens his eyes, remembering his deep voice from the call as he told Wooyoung about crush's scandal. He opens his mouth to speak but the other speaks again. "I know all about how crush deleted the article, and that you're infamous for it and you cant find anyone to hire anymore. I know, its all my fault and I just want to say that I'm so sorry-"

"Then why did you tell me a lie, did you want me to get fired? Why would you- no, I should have known this was a prank call or something, I was dumb enough to believe you and-"

The man in front of him bites his lip, looking like he's seconds away from full on crying and Wooyoung eyes him skeptically, then sighs. "Why did you call me here"

The man blinks a few times to sort himself out then looks up at Wooyoung. "It wasn't a lie. I promise, please believe me". 

Wooyoung frowns, "what do you mean you weren't lying?"

"I had a feeling crush would make you take it down but people need to know, they're dangerous! I didn't know you'd be fired. I'm so sorry, please forgive me"

The other is just babbling a string of apologies as Wooyoung drowns out the sounds, trying to register what was said to him just now. "Wait, so you mean its true that the ceo has been taking people hostage for things in return?" 

The air around them is silent for a few moments before the man replies, it looks like he was gathering the courage to speak again. "It's true, I wanted someone to write about it to put an end to it."

Wooyoung nods, "but... how do you know about this?" He asks the other, who gulps and looks away. "I was taken too"

An unintentional gasp escapes Wooyoung's mouth "what- how? Why didn't you tell the police?" 

The man scoffs. "They didn't believe me obviously, told me I was crazy and to stop telling lies". 

Wooyoung scans his face, the eye bags a clear indication of restless nights, how long had this been haunting him? He remembers him mentioning that some models that had worked with crush had mysteriously disappeared. "Are... you a model? What's your name?"

The man nods, "I'm Song Mingi, under KQ modelling agency". 

He gives Mingi a reassuring smile, "thank you for telling me, I'm sorry I was rude to you at first". 

Wooyoung feels guilty about not believing Mingi, the poor man has probably been through so much, he knows how hard it is to go up against a huge company and him being petty about losing his job wasn't helping. "No, I'm the one who's sorry, I'm the reason why you got fired, I should have gathered more evidence before calling you, you had nothing to go off apart from my call, I've humiliated you"

Wooyoung scoffs "its not your fault Mingi, I'm the one who should have gotten more evidence, its my job for goodness sake" 

Mingi chuckles "how about we work together to stop this from happening again?" He proposes and Wooyoung agrees, it gives him something to do and who knows? Maybe he could make a comeback with a sensational story and everyone would be begging to hire him. 

Wooyoung shakes his head quickly, cursing himself for being so selfish, this is not about him, its about Mingi who has gone through something traumatic and wants justice. "Are you okay with talking about it, from start to finish, everything you know?"

Mingi nods and Wooyoung is glad he brought a notepad as he writes down everything he says. 

There is a rumour going around that the top makeup company, crush, is on it's way it becoming bankrupt within the next few years. The ceo, not wanting that to happen, is willing to do anything it takes to replace what is lost, even if it means kidnapping the models they work with and threatening them and robbing them of their job and money. 

"Do you remember that model Cha Yujin?" Mingi says, whispering slightly. 

Wooyoung definitely remembers, her story was all over the news "yeah, she's the model who had a drug scandal" now that he thinks of it, he has no idea what she's doing now... could it be? Was she-

"Oh she wasn't in any drug scandal, she was kidnapped by the crush ceo a few weeks after her company had worked with them, and forced to play along with the drug scandal so shed get fired. They even force fed her drugs so that her tests would come out positive". 

Wooyoung stares in shock at what he's hearing. "What the fuck, that's a make up company ceo, not a fucking gang leader!" He exclaims and Mingi nods sorrowfully. 

"What... happened to you?" Wooyoung cautiously asks, not wanting Mingi to feel pressured to experience it again in his head. 

The other smiles sadly, "I was fortunate enough to be rescued before anything serious happened, my company thankfully gives their models bodyguards, so I was kidnapped and taken away but its wasn't long before my bodyguard found me. I explained everything to him and we both tried telling the police, our ceo, anyone. But no one believes us. You were the only one who had, and wrote something about it, thank you Wooyoung."

Wooyoung sighs, he wants to help Mingi and all the others who have been in this crazy situation. This time he'll really do everything he can to make people listen and gather evidence, work with Mingi to write something and get it read by everyone, so that they'll have to listen and believe them. Help Mingi and the others get the justice they deserve. 

"Don't worry Mingi, I'll do everything it takes to help you, save my number and I'll call you, I think I know where to start". 

Mingi beams and its the first time Wooyoung sees a genuine smile "thank you so much" he stands up and holds out his hand to Wooyoung. 

"It's no problem" he says, shaking his hand, then pulling him into a hug. "You did well, thank you for contacting me"

Mingi melts into the hug but it only lasts a second before Wooyoung is roughly shoved away. "Jongho!" Mingi says with a frown "why did you do that, you heard the conversation, he's on our side"

Wooyoung looks confused as he looks at this man called Jongho. "You never know hyung, I don't trust him yet."

Mingi shakes his head "he's working with us now so don't be mean to him" he pinches Jongho's cheek, making him whine. Wooyoung awkwardly looks at the two in front of him, he didn't even notice the other man was sitting in the table next to theirs. "Oh, Wooyoung sorry, this is my bodyguard Choi Jongho" Mingi says and Wooyoung hums in understanding. 

"Ya!" Jongho elbows Mingi's stomach, making the other groan in pain. "Why would you tell him my surname?"

Mingi rolls his eyes "stop being so dramatic, he's not some mafia leader, what’s he going to do with your name if he was anyway" 

Wooyoung looks away from the two with wide eyes, Jongho has wrapped his arm around Mingi's waist. "I'm just being cautious, I don't want anything happening to you again" he says with a pout. Mingi sighs and ruffles his hair "I know, but don't waste your energy worrying about good people okay?" He pinches his cheek again and Jongho nods. 

Mingi notices Wooyoung's awkward stare out of the window and chuckles "ah, sorry for making you uncomfortable, Jongho is my boyfriend as well as my bodyguard." Wooyoung looks at the two, intimidated by Jongho's stare as if he's silently telling him 'yeah, do you have a problem with that?' 

"That's nice, you two look good together" Wooyoung says in an attempt to get on Jongho's good side, which seems to have worked as he notices the faint blush on his cheeks. 

"Don't we?" Mingi beams, grabbing Jongho's hand proudly and it makes Wooyoung's heart warm. He wonders if Jongho was his bodyguard before being his boyfriend or after. 

~

When Wooyoung comes home, Yeosang runs out of his room making him look up, startled by the sound of him slamming the door. He clears his throat awkwardly "oh, you're back".

Wooyoung nods, going into the living room and Yeosang follows him, he looks at him questioningly "do you need anything Yeosang?". He cant help but notice that his roommate had been acting weird ever since this morning, did anything happen?

He shakes his head "no, just- who did you meet?" He asks and Wooyoung is surprised he even cares but he's actually glad because he loves to gossip. 

"You'll never believe what I heard today" Yeosang listens intently as he tells him evetything, Wooyoung wants him to know that he's making an active effort to fix his life, and help people on the way. 

He knows that Yeosang's uncomfortable with him around and that he doesn't like his family prying into his personal life, he'd seen it on the day of the party. He should be able to get out of his life soon once he gets a job, he just has some extra steps now. 

"So... what are you going to do now?"

"First, I'll start off at the police station" Wooyoung days and Yeosang frowns "I thought you said the police wouldn't believe you?"

He shakes his head "yeah but, there is one person that would, my friend is a police officer". Yeosang nods slowly, not really knowing what to respond.

"I'll visit him now actually, you know him, its Yunho" Wooyoung gets up as Yeosang exclaims "you didn't tell me Yunho is a police officer" 

To be fair, they don't know each other that well yet, let alone what their friends do for a living, it doesn't really come up when you've got only one reason to talk to each other. 

Wooyoung thinks they should stop acting like business partners and more like roommates. "You never asked? Come, lets go together, San will be there too"

"Is San a police officer too?"

"Nah, he's a forensic scientist, but his lab company is in partnership with Yunho's police department. It's how they met actually a few years ago, San wouldn't stop talking about this hot police officer and then boom, a few months later, they're dating". Wooyoung shakes his head, San was lucky enough to find someone so perfect so easily, Yunho is one of his best friends now too. 

Yeosang nods, finding it interesting listening about other peoples lives, everyday is like a surprise. He'd never had any surprises in his life, everything being written out for him like his career path, he had freedom over who he dated though, but they always turn out horribly. At least he has some sort of freedoms now, though his mother is still pestering him about Wooyoung. He has no idea how he’s supposed to end it smoothly. 

They arrive quickly to the police office with Wooyoung happily skipping in and Yeosang hurrying behind him nervously, he's never been in a police office and he's a little intimidated. "Oh? Wooyoung! What are you doing here?" 

Yunho waves from his desk and the pair take a seat in front of him "Yeosang you're here too!" Yeosang sends him a bright smile, ok, maybe this isn't as scary as he thought, Yunho must be some sort of happy virus or something. 

"Is something going on? I'd never thought both of you would be visiting here" He chuckles and Wooyoung clears his throat, getting ready as if he's about to propose a business plan. "I have a special case for you to investigate" he says in a serious tone. 

Yunho looks puzzled "what kind of case?"

They explain the whole situation, about how they need to find more about crush and their ceo, what happened to the missing models and how to stop it. Yunho ponders for a while, Wooyoung had said it's unbelievable and to just trust him that it's true. And he does believe him, Wooyoung wouldn't lie about something as serious like this, the problem is getting permission to open a case about this. 

"It's going to be hard to get information on the ceo, I don't think any other of the officers would believe me, or even if they did, they be too scared to file an investigation against crush, you know they're one of our biggest sponsors?"

Wooyoung scoffs, what would a makeup company benefit our of sponsoring a police department?

"I'll do what I can on my own and I'll send you whatever information I find". Yunho says and Wooyoung claps, pulling him into a hug over the desk which is a bit uncomfortable for the both of them. "Thank you Yunho, it's alright if you can't find anything, don't go overboard trying to gather information" Yunho nods. 

After listening to their conversation, Yeosang has an idea. It's not much but he hopes it could be useful, for some reason he really wants to help, finally have something interesting to do, and helpful. He turns to Wooyoung to speak but gets distracted when a loud shout is heard. 

"Yunhooo"

All three of them turn to see San jogging towards them with a bright smile, stopping abruptly upon seeing Wooyoung and Yeosang then running to them. "Hi guys! What are you doing here?" He says, clearly happy to have more company. 

"Hey San, we're here on official business" Wooyoung says and San lets out an interested hum, standing behind Yunho who is sitting down, and wrapping his arms around his neck. "What kind?"

Yunho lifts his head up to look at him "very serious stuff, ill tell you when we get home" he says and San nods. 

"Since we're all here, should we eat lunch together?" Wooyoung suggests happily but San pouts "sorry Woo, I have some bullet wounds to analyse soon, I just came here to hug Yunho before heading off". 

"It's okay, maybe next time, we can plan a double date!" He says and Yeosang snaps his head to Wooyoung confused, only getting an innocent smile in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m putting this work on hold for now, I don’t know for how long but I’m going through some intense writers block + no motivation, I’m sorry :(

**Author's Note:**

> I know its a mess but pls bear with me, actually idk if its going to get better...
> 
> Thank you for reading anyway let me know what you think!


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